


^ 




LETTERS AND SPEECHES. 



[PRIVATELY PRINTED,] 



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A FEW 



LETTERS AND SPEECHES 



The Late Civil War. 



^^JLffu.s"\: ^e.lrnon't". 




NEW \ O R K 
1870. 



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This pamphlet, which is privately printed, contains a 
few letters, chosen from among hundreds, and a few 
speeches, selected out of many, that were written or uttered 
by their author during the time that he has had the honor 
to be intrusted with an official position in the Democratic 
party — namely, the Chairmanship of its National Committee. 
' It was a circumstance incident to any faithful discharge 
of that responsible duty, during so exciting and momentous 
an era in the history of the United States as that through 
which they have but lately passed or are passing, that his 
opinions and conduct should be often misrepresented and 
sometimes misunderstood. 

The following pages will suffice to correct such errors, 
should they ever approach a lodgment in the minds of 
those with whom alone such errors now can be of any 
importance to him, — his children, and his personal or political 
friends; and will disclose to such of these as care to con- 
cern themselves about the matter, the ends which, as a 
citizen and as a member of a noble and time-honored 
party he has had in view, as well as something of the 
means by which, in his humble sphere and imperfect way, 
he has striven to attain them. 

AUGUST BELMONT. 

New York, June, 1S70. 



LETTERS. 



To JOHN FORSYTH, 

Mobile^ Ala. 

New York, November 22, i860. 

Mv Dear Sir, — I have followed, with the most intense anxiety, 
the events which the election of Lincoln has called forth at the South. 
While I fully appreciate the legitimate grievances of your section of 
the country, I deprecate sincerely the means which a large portion of 
your citizens seem determined to adopt for their redress. 

Nobody can regret more than I do the election of Lincoln, and I 
certainly need not tell you how earnestly I strove to prevent that 
calamity ; but now that we are defeated, I think that it behooves 
every good Democrat, North and South, to reflect calmly upon what 
course it will be most wise and patriotic to pursue, in order to 
guard against the evils with which a Republican administration 
threatens our country. I take it for granted that a large majority of 
our Southern brethren are in favor of the Union, provided they can 
have their rights secured under the Constitution, and their property 
protected against the inroads of Northern Abolitionism. I hope and 
trust that the disunionists per se stand alone in their conspiracv against 
the Union, which they have labored to undermine for the last twenty 
years. Unfortunately, they have been able to bring a large number 
of the patriotic men of the South to the belief that Lincoln's election 
is a convincing proof of an overwhelming anti-slavery feeling at the 
North ; but this is by no means the case, and it is evident that the 
unfortunate result of the late election was mainly owing to other 
causes. 

The country at large had become disgusted with the misrule of Mr. 
Buchanan, and the corruption which disgraced his administration. 
The Democratic party was made answerable for his misdeeds, and 
a change was ardently desired by thousands of conservative men out 
of politics. This feeling was particularlv strong in the rural districts, 
and did us infinite harm there. 



To John Forsyth. 



Had we made an unanimous nomination at Charleston, we should 
most probably have overcome our opponents ; though, for the reason 
just named, our struggle must have, in any event, been a severe one. 
But unfortunate dissensions paralyzed our forces at the very outset. 
When the delegates of the cotton States, under the leadership of Yan- 
cey, seceded at Charleston, breaking up the National Convention, they 
sealed the doom of the Democratic party, and elected Mr. Lincoln. 
Will the people of the South now allow these very men to reap the fruits 
ot their reckless course by aiding and sustaining them in their efforts to 
shatter the magnificent fabric of our Union, which has blessed until now 
this vast Republic with never-equalled greatness and prosperity? Is Mr. 
Yancey's programme to precipitate the South into a revolution, to be 
carried out by those patriots who, with you, have thus far so nobly fought 
against him and his nefarious doctrines ? Is it statesmanlike, is it 
manly, to withdraw from the contest when it becomes most fierce, and 
when victory [not of an ephemeral power and patronage.^ but of lasting 
guaranties and principles) is within our grasp ? Is it generous and kind 
to leave the brave and loyal men of the North, who have stood by 
you and your rights, and have led a forlorn hope against the most fear- 
ful odds — is it right and just, I say, to forsake them in the hour of 
need, and doom them to a hopeless minority ? 

It the Southern character is prominent for any qualities more than 
others, it is for unflinching courage and noble generosity. These 
virtues have taught me to cherish and honor the chivalrous South, 
and I appeal through you to those sentiments, that our Southern 
friends may pause before leaving the field to their enemies, and 
abandoning their faithful allies to the mercy of a ruthless victor. 

But while I implore them to pause, I am far from wishing them to 
retrace their steps. A firm, uncompromising, and united position must 
secure to them their rights and equality under the Constitution. The 
conservative mind at the North is anxious and ready to co-operate 
with them, and the reaction which has already taken place among 
thousands who voted for Lincoln, promises most conclusively a satis- 
factory solution of our troubles. Only, do not allow the violent men 
among you to force the Southern people under the whip of packed 
conventions, into any hasty and inconsiderate steps. No convention 
should be formed unless by a direct appeal to the people, and in such 
a convention every slaveholding State should be represented. This, 
I am sure, would, under the recommendation of Congress and local 



To John Forsyth. 



legislatures, 'soon be followed by a general convention of all the States 
of the Union. 

The faithful enforcement of the fugitive-slave law, and the equal 
rights of the States in the Territories, must, and will, be guaranteed to 
the South, — not by any enactments and compromises of Congress, 
which might at any time be repealed and tampered with, but by amend- 
ments to the Constitution of such a nature as to silence forever the 
just apprehensions of the South. 

Upon the leading national men of the South devolves now the sacred 
duty of stemming the torrent of terrorism, conjured up by rash politi- 
cians. The time for a satisfactory settlement of these vital questions 
has never been more propitious. We have both houses of Congress 
on our side, and the conservative spirit of the country is appalled at the 
contemplation of our portentous future. 

Already, now, the more moderate organs of the Republican party 
give strong evidence of this feeling. I hand you inclosed an extract 
from the New York "Times^ of yesterday, recommending measures of 
compromise and justice to the South. The article receives additional 
importance from the fact that the editor of the Times is one of the 
leading lights among the Republicans. 

Excuse this lengthy epistle ; but the subject is fraught with such 
deep interest that volumes would not exhaust it. I hope you will find 
a few moments of leisure to let me hear from you, and I trust that 
you may, by God's blessing, be able to give me cheerful tidings. 



To THE Hon. HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON, 

Speir's Turnout^ 'Jefferson Ciiv^ Ga. 

New York, November 2Z, i860. 

My Dear Sir,^ — I have seen with great satisfaction that amidst all 
the turmoil of passionate madness, fed by the incendiary speeches of 
Yancev and Toombs, your patriotic voice is loud in favor of the 
Union. 

Heaven grant that the wise counsels of such men as you, and the 
noble Alex. Stephens, may be listened to, and that our Southern 
brethren may act firmly and manly, but without precipitation. In that 
case all must in the end come right, and the South will ride triumph- 
antly through the storm. 

Mv only fear is that the secession leaders, reckless of patriotic con- 
siderations, and only bent upon the accomplishment of their trea- 
sonable ends, may succeed in manufacturing packed conventions in 
South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, for the purpose of precipitating 
secession without an appeal to the people. 

This ought to be prevented at all hazards, and I hope that you, and 
other patriotic leaders, will rouse the people of your State to a full ap- 
preciation of the nefarious game played by their pretended friends. I 
have expressed my views more at length in a letter, which I addressed 
to-dav to Mr. Forsyth, and of which I beg to hand vou a copy. 

The South has got the game in her own hands, and it is for her to 
choose whether to give peace and greatness to our common country, 
ivhile at the same tune securing for herself every Constitutional right^ or 
whether to bury us all in one desolating ruin, which would be to the 
enemies of human liberty a vindication of the justice of their uncom- 
promising opposition to self-government. The dissolution of the 
American Union is the death-knell of human liberty. 



To JULIUS IZARD PRINGLE, 

Charleston^ S. C. 

New York, November 26, i860. 

Dear Pringle, — I note the contents of vour note of the 22d inst. 
The present political and financial crisis will, I trust, soon pass over 
and every thing turn back to its regular channels. 

It will then appear clearly a qui la f ante of the calamities which have 
overtaken us, and to which you allude in your letter. My convictions 
on that point have never changed. 

We are cursed with tivo sets of Abolitionists in this country^ and until 
they are crushed out of political existence, our onward march as a great 
and prosperous nation must be retarded, and the foundations of the 
Union and Constitution undermined. They are the fanatical AboU- 
tionists of slavery^ led by Sumner and other demagogues, and the 
selfish and short-sighted Abolitionists of the Union^ under -the leader- 
ship of Yancey, Rhett, and Toombs. If the conservative spirit of our 
people North and South cannot silence forever the howlings of these 
false prophets, we are all doomed to leave an inheritance of ruin and 
blood to our children, who otherwise might have grown up as citi- 
zens and brethren of the freest and mightiest empire upon which God's 
sun ever shed its radiant lustre. 

I have embodied my views on the present crisis in a letter, which I 
addressed a few days ago to Mr. Forsyth, in Alabama, and of which 
I hand you inclosed a copy. 

The hour is dark, but I do not yet despair entirely of the patriotism 
and good sense oi the American people. 



To JOHN C. BRADLEY, 

Hunt svi lie ^ J la. 

New York, November 28, i86o. 

My Dear Sir, — I have received your letter of the 23d inst., and 
am rejoiced to see that the conservative men of your part of the 
country have moved in the right direction. 

The patriotic men of the country look to the Douglas and Bell 
party of the South as their only hope in the present crisis. Yancey 
and his compeers, by seceding at Charleston, broke up the Democratic 
party, and were the chief means of Lincoln's election. 

It is clear now that this was the programme, in order to throw the 
cotton States into their hands, and force a dissolution of the Union by 
terrorism and packed conventions. 

If there is conservative spirit and love of the Union enough left in 
the South to prevent them from carrying out their treasonable schemes, 
all may be saved yet. 

A convention of all the Southern States would certainly save us. It 
would be followed by a convention of all the States North and South, 
where the guaranties which the South has a right to demand, would 
be sure to be granted to her under the Constitution. 

I inclose you copy of a letter which I addressed a few days ago to 
John Forsyth, embodying my views on the present crisis. If you 
think proper you may show it to such friends as are with us in sen- 
timent. 



To WILLIAM MARTEN, 

CharUiton^ S. C. 

New York, November 30, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — I have received your letter, and you will have 
heard from my house, that we are entirely satisfied with the execu- 
tion of our small exchange orders. 

The unfortunate state of our politics, which in your State particularly 
have assumed a most threatening aspect, prevents us, to my great regret, 
from renewing our orders for the moment. It is also impossible for us 
to hold out any hopes for the present, as to our being able to do anv 
thing in your market after the secession of your State, which you pre- 
dict as certain to take place very shortly. 

My heart misgives me when I think of the terrible consequences 
which the present action of your leading men must inevitably bring 
upon every section of our common country. 

I have written my views on the subject a few days ago to a friend 
in Alabama, and beg to hand you a copy of my letter. 

The idea of separate confederacies living in peace and prosperitv on 
this continent, after a dissolution of the Union, is too preposterous to 
be entertained by any man of sound sense, and the slightest knowledge 
of history. 

Secession means civil luar^ to'he folloxved hy a total disintegration of the 
whole fabric^ after endless sacrifices of blood and treasure. If patriotism 
and love of the Union will not make people pause in their mad ca- 
reer, I hope they may not lose the instinct of self-preservation. 

Can you tell me where Governor Aiken is at present ? I ad- 
dressed him a letter a week ago, to Charleston. Do you think it will 
reach him ? 



To Governor WM. SPRAGUE, 

Providence^ R. I. 

New York, December 6, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — The deep solicitude which the events in the South 
must call forth in the breast of every American citizen induces me to 
address you these lines. 

The secession of South Carolina, which must be looked upon now 
as an accomplished fact, will inevitably very soon be followed by the 
secession of all the cotton States, and a consequent dissolution of the 
•whole Confederacy, unless prompt and energetic measures are taken 
by the leading men of the North, in order to prevent this fearful 
calamity. 

Even the most fervent adherents of the Union in the border States 
despair of the possibility of maintaining their States within the Union, 
unless the just grievances of the South are remedied by early and 
prompt action. 

At this moment the patriotic men in the gulf States are using every 
effort, in order to bring about a joint convention. In this they are 
violently opposed by the disunionists, who are for immediate and sepa- 
rate action. The latter are undoubtedly in the ascendency, and unless 
some action is at once taken at the N'orth which will strengthen the 
hands of our friends, no earthly power can save the Union. 

If the programme of the co-operation men, composed of the Bell 
and Douglas leaders, succeeds, then South Carolina would for the 
present be the only State which actually secedes. The other gulf 
States would declare in this convention the conditions upon which they 
can remain in the Union, and if these cannot be obtained from the 
conservative spirit of the North, they will follow South Carolina on 
the 4th of March next. 
These conditions are — 

1st, The repeal of the unconstitutional personal-liberty bills by those 
States which have passed them. 



T^o Gov. Wm. Spragi/c. i^ 



2d, The acknowledgment of the equal rights of the South in the 
Territories. 

My own impression is that if, by the spontaneous action of the 
legislatures of even a portion of the Northern States, in repealing these 
objectionable laws, a spirit of returning justice were evinced, the question 
of the Territories might be settled by a compromise, to be embodied in 
the Constitution, based upon the old Missouri line, to be extended to 
the Pacific. 

You are in the proud and enviable position to lead this movement, 
which alone can save our beloved. Republic from utter ruin and deso- 
lation. 

The good old State of Rhode Island has been ever foremost in her 
loyalty and attachment to the Union, and she will, under your guidance, 
lead her sister States of New England to that path of fraternal equity 
toward the South, which can alone restore peace and harmony to our 
distracted country. 

If your legislature would, at your recommendation, efface from the 
statute-book of the State the objectionable personal-liberty bill, her 
example would soon be followed by all the other States, and this spon- 
taneous act of justice would, I have little doubt, induce Congress to 
amend the fugitive-slave bill, so as to take from it what is now looked 
upon by many people of the North as revolting to their feelings. 

Prompt and efficient action is, however, indispensable ; any delay is 
fatal in the present state of feeling at the South. My humble sugges- 
tion to you would be to convene your legislature at as early a day 
as practicable. You have it now in your power to earn for yourself 
the eternal gratitude of every American heart, and a name in the an- 
nals of your country more imperishable than that of the proudest 
conqueror. 

I have to crave your pardon for the liberty which I have taken in 
addressing you these respectful suggestions. The vital importance 
of the case must plead as my excuse. 



To Governor WM. SPRAGUE, 

Providence^ R. I. 

New York, December 13, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — I am much obliged for your favor of loth inst., 
but regret that you take the view that the repeal of the personal-liberty 
bill, by your State, at this moment could be looked upon as a concession 
made under the pressure and influence of fear and threats. 

The secession movement of the South has lost all the character of 
bluster and threat, which our Northern friends supposed too long was 
its principal element. The most conservative men have joined in it, 
right or wrong ; they feel that their institutions and property are not 
any longer safe within the Union, and that self-preservation commands 
action before the Federal power passes into hands which they take for 
granted are hostile to their section. They do not threaten, but they 
want to be allowed to go out peaceably. The great majority are for 
immediate action, but the Union men are striving to postpone secession 
if possible until the 4th of March. 

In this they can only succeed if aided by the North. The action 
which I suggested to you would go very far toward paving the way to 
a satisfactory solution of our present difficulties. You, yourself, think 
that the personal-liberty bills are unconstitutional. If they are wrong, 
why then wait one moment to do what is right ? 

Neither a State nor an individual can ever suffer in public opinion 
by doing what is right, and the more spontaneous the acknowledgment 
of an error is, the higher will it be appreciated. Here is what Herschel 
V. Johnson, one of the most patriotic and able men of the South, 
writes to me on this subject only a kw davs ago. After giving a most 
dispassionate description of the present state of affairs, and the dangers 
which surround us, he savs : — 

" What is to be done ? The Union is in danger, how can it be 
saved ? In niv judgment there is but one way, and I fear that may 
be too late. Those non-slaveholdins States, whose legislatures have 



-To Gov. Win. Sprugue. \c 



enacted them, must repeal their personal-Hbeity bills, and all acts of 
every kind which obstruct and prevent the faithful execution of the 
fugitive-slave law. 

"■ I do not say they should do this under the influence of fear .^ nor even 
because the South may demand it., but because it is right ; it will be but a 
voluntary return to a correct sense of Constitutional obligation, and a 
renewal of that spirit of brotherhood from which the Union sprang, and 
without which it cannot be perpetuated. Such zct'ion^ voluntarily taken, 
will be far more salutary upon the popular mind of the South, than if 
taken at the end of a bitter contest," etc. 

I can assure you, my dear sir, that all the leaders of the Republican 
party in our State and city, with a few exceptions of the ultra radicals, 
are in favor of concessions, and that the popular mind of the North is 
ripe for them. A prompt action by you will be universally hailed 
with joy and gratitude, while a tardy compliance with the popular will 
can but have comparatively small merit. Public men, placed as promi- 
nently as you are, must lead and not follow^ if they want to make their 
mark. 



To Governor WM. SPRAGUE, 

Providence^ R. I. 

New York, December 19, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — I have been confined to my bed for the last few 
days, and therefore was unable to acknowledge the receipt of your 
favor of 1 6th inst. before this. 

I hail with the most heartfelt satisfaction the expression of your 
intention to call at once your legislature together for the purpose of 
having the personal-liberty bill of your State repealed, and I hope sin- 
cerely that mature reflection will have confirmed you in that wise and 
patriotic resolve. 

You must see all around you evidences of a healthy reaction in the 
Northern sentiment, and a return to that spirit of equity and justice 
which alone can keep the two sections together. 

In Boston, and throughout Massachusetts, the leading men of both 
parties are loud in their clamors for a repeal of the personal-liberty 
bill of that State. Last evening I was present at an informal meeting 
of about thirty gentlemen, comprising our leading men, Republicans, 
Union men, and Democrats, composed of such names as Astor, Aspin- 
wall, Moses H. Grinnell, Hamilton Fish, R. M. Blatchford, etc. 
They were unanimous in their voice for reconciliation, and that the 
first steps have to be taken by the North. 

A very strong memorial, to be signed by all the leading men of both 
parties who are for the maintenance of the Union, is now preparing, 
and will be forthwith sent to Washington. 

I think I speak advisedly in saying that Governor Morgan will take 
very decided grounds in favor of concessions in his annual message, on 
the 2d of January. 

The ball is moving, and our public men must take their choice of 
three alternatives, viz. : to lead, to follow, or to be left behind with a 
small and despised faction of fanatics, who never will be able to stand up 
against the torrent of public indignation which is sure to overtake them. 



To Go'c. If m. Spragiie. \-i 

I need not point out to you the course which lies before you. Your 
high intelligence and patriotism are your sate guides, and 1 trust im- 
plicitly to them, that they will, with God's blessing, make you a 
prominent instrument in the salvation of our country. 



To THURLOW WEED, 

Jlbatiy^ N. K 

New York, December 19, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — Allow me, though a comparative stranger, to ex- 
press to you the heartfelt satisfaction with which I have read your very 
able and patriotic article of last Monday. 

The statesmanlike view which you take of our present difficulties, 
and the wise and conciliatory course which you, with so much truth, 
counsel as the only remedy which can save this great Republic from 
untold calamities, must command, not only the warm support of your 
friends, but also the unqualified respect and admiration of your 
opponents. 

As one of the latter, it gives me much pleasure to convey to you my 
sincere assurances of these feelings. 

I have fought to the last against the great party, of which vou have 
proved so formidable a leader, but I shall never regret our defeat if 
your wise counsels prevail, and with God's blessing peace and con- 
cord are restored, under Mr. Lincoln's administration, to our dis- 
tracted country. 



To JOHN FORSYTH, 

Mobile, Ala. 

New York, December 19, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — Your favor of 8th inst, reached me a i&^N days 
ago, but I was prevented by indisposition from replying to it before. 
It was very gratifying that vou should have deemed my last letter to 
you of sufficient import to give it a place in your journal, but I regret 
deeply that so far from advocating the policy of co-operation, and de- 
liberate, united action by the Southern States, for which I appealed to 
your support, I find your paper as warmly and uncompromisingly for 
immediate and unconditional secession as ever Yancey has been. 

When we Douglas men of the North stood by our colors against 
the combined onslaughts of the Black Republicans and the adminis- 
tration, we were upheld in our struggle by the consciousness that we 
were fighting the battle of the Union and the Constitution against 
fanaticism North and sectionalism South. We fought to the last, and 
hopefully to the end, because we trusted that our friends at the South 
would never forsake that glorious cause, even in defeat, which our 
noble banner-bearer had so fearlessly defended during the canvass in 
every Northern and Southern State. 

Douglas declared repeatedly in that memorable campaign, that the 
election of Mr. Lincoln was not, in his judgment, a justifiable ground 
for secession. How do those stand now before the country, who, after 
having been the most prominent instruments of his nomination, and 
having adhered to him after this declaration, and now, because he is 
defeated, forsake the Union-loving principles which were the main hold 
he had upon the American people ? I know that the disunionists at 
the South taunt those who counsel the more wise, efficient, and patri- 
otic course of seeking redress within the Union, by calling them '•'■ sub- 
missionists ,• " but I, for one, would most certainly rather submit to the 
constitutional election of an opponent than to the terrorism evoked 
by a faction whose treasonable designs mv best efforts had been 
exerted to defeat. 



2o To John Forsyth. 



Both Mr. Bell and Mr. Douglas have, since the election, spoken 
warmly and manfully for the Union. Their adherents at the North, 
in the middle States, are proud and rejoiced at the stand these states- 
men have taken ; but how can our friends in the cotton States recon- 
cile their actions of to-day with their professions only a few months 
back ? I have read with great attention the leader from your paper, 
which you sent me, but I am sorry to say that I cannot in any way 
coincide with your views. I do not, and never will, believe that Lin- 
coln's election is an evidence of the overwhelming anti-slavery feeling 
at the North. 

The principal battle was fought in our State ; had we succeeded 
here, Mr. Lincoln could not have been elected. Now, it is well 
known that until within one short fortnight of the election, we were 
hopelessly divided, with the whole power of the administration against 
us. Disorganized, and whollv without means for even the most es- 
sential expenses of a campaign, we were forced into a fusion on the 
very eve of battle. With no earthlv possibilitv of electing either of 
our three candidates, with a hastv and incomplete organization, and 
with the baneful influence of the October elections in Pennsylvania, 
Maine, and Indiana, brought about by the treacherv of the adminis- 
tration, against us, with a great want of the necessary pecuniary means 
(the whole sum raised for the fusion ticket did not amount to $50,000 
all told), with all these difficulties against us what did we do ^ Whv, 
we polled 317,000 votes in our State for the fusion ticket, 30,000 
more votes than were ever given before bv the united Democratic partv, 
when we gave the State to Pierce by 23,000 majority. 

\n a vote of 700,000, a change of 26,000 votes, sav less than four 
per cent., would have given us the State. More than four per cent., 
by far, were made up of men who voted for Lincoln because they 
were disgusted with the administration, while thousands and thousands 
were led into the mistake of voting with the Republicans, though not 
holding one single principle in common with them, because thev knew 
that Lincoln was the only candidate who could be elected by the peo- 
ple, and considered that the greatest e\il which could befall the coun- 
try would be an election by the House. 

Hundreds of men holding sound principles on the Constitutional 
rights of the South, were, to my certain knowledge, led into that mis- 
take. Thev had been told bv a distinguished Senator from one of the 
cotton States, as late as last Mav, in a speech delivered in the halls or 



To John Forsyth. 21 

Congress, and sent in hundreds of thousands all over the country, that 
Mr. Lincoln had proved himself, in his controversy with Douglas, in 
1858, a very conservative and unobjectionable man to the South, as 
compared with the latter. Why should they not vote for him now, 
and so prevent the terrible excitement and prostration of all material 
interests, which a contested election in Congress, dragged on until next 
March, would inevitably bring upon the country ? I have had to fight 
these arguments over and over again before the election, and meet 
daily now with men who confess the error they have been led into, and 
almost with tears in their eyes, wish they could undo what they helped 
to do. 

No, my dear sir, the evidence is too clear ; we owe the election of 
Lincoln only to the misrule of the present administration, and to the 
unfortunate dissensions in our own party. If, as you say, the public 
mind had become vitiated by the incendiary teachings of the Abolition 
press, there can be, on the other hand, no denying that a healthy re- 
action is overtaking us with giant steps. Look at the late scenes in 
Boston, hitherto the sanctum sanctorum of Abolitionism ; look at their 
municipal elections. 

If I only could have you here for a few days, I am sure you would be 
convinced, and agree with me, that the surest redress for the South is 
within the Union. The ball is in motion, and nothing can stop it ex- 
cept the inconsiderate and hasty action of the South herself. If it has taken 
the Abolition press and pulpit forty years to poison a portion of the 
public mind at the North, do we ask you too much by entreating you 
to give us only three months, in order to remedy this evil ? 

Mr. Toombs himself proposes now that Georgia should not secede 
from the Union until the 3d of March, and I certainly think that no- 
body can be charged vv'ith lukewarmness in the South by following his 
advice. 

If Georgia and Alabama will leave South Carolina to pursue her 
own mad career alone, and declare in convention that they will 
secede on the 3d of March, unless their rights in the Territories are 
guaranteed to them, under the Constitution, and the personal-liberty 
bills of some of the Northern States are repealed, I have a strong hope 
that we may save the Union, and place Southern rights on a sound and 
lasting footing. I know that powerful agencies among the Republican 
leaders in our State, and elsewhere, are now at work, which look to 
that end. Weed is out boldly and fearlessly for such a policy, and I 



22 To John Forsyth. 



have every reason to believe that he will ere long be powerfully sup- 
ported. 

Now, one more point which I cannot leave unnoticed in the article 
which you send me, and then I will not trouble vou anv longer. 

You charge the desire for concessions, on the part of the North, to 
mercenary motives. I think this is unkind to your friends, and cer- 
tainly unfair as regards my own State and city. 

We are actuated by principles of right and justice, but above all rises 
the warm and undying attachment to the Union, which with me, and 
all those who unite in my efforts for the good cause, is unsullied by one 
mean or sordid motive. If it were otherwise, and it we did only look 
to our own material interests, and those of our city, we should not de- 
plore the dissolution of the Union. New York, in such a catastrophe, 
would cut loose from the puritanical East, and her protective tariff, 
and without linking her fortunes with our kind but somewhat exacting 
Southern friends, she would open her magnificent port to the com- 
merce of the world. What Venice was once on the sluggish lagoons 
of the small Adriatic, New York would ere long become to the two 
hemispheres, proudlv resting on the bosom of the broad Atlantic, and 
I am afraid sadly interfering with the brilliant but fallacious hopes of 
the Palmetto and Crescent cities. 

I prefer, however, to leave to my children, instead of the gilded 
prospects of New York merchant princes, the more enviable title of 
American citizens, and as long as God spares my life I shall not falter 
in my efforts to preserve to them that heritage. 



To THE Hon. S. A. DOUGLAS, 

Washington^ D. C. 

New York, December ;6, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — I have not written to you during all the troubles 
which have overtaken us since the unfortunate result of the election. 

You, whose patriotic heart beats warmly for our beloved Union, 
must feel deeply the terrible situation into which we have been thrown 
bv fanatical sectionalism. 

I did not like to add to your anguish by any expressions of the dark 
forebodings with which I look to the future. I cannot, however, re- 
frain from expressing to you my warm and heartfelt admiration for the 
able and patriotic position which you have taken on Mr. Crittenden's 
propositions. 

In giving to them your support, and in voting for the restoration of 
thp Missouri compromise line to be carried out to the Pacific, you have 
given an example of heroic and patriotic self-denial which entitles 
you to the gratitude of the whole American people. 

I have heard your conduct commended in the warmest terms by 
those who opposed your nomination and election during the late cam- 
paign. 

Your friends are proud to see the man of their choice rise above 
every other consideration but that of devotion to the Union, and regret 
only that your noble example has not yet been followed by any of the 
leaders in whose hands are now the destinies of the Republic. If 
your propositions, which I have read with great interest, or those of 
Mr. Crittenden, could but receive the unanimous support of the Sena- 
torial committee of thirteen, the Union might be saved, otherwise I 
cannot see one rav of hope. 

The Republican leaders seem utterly blind to the dangers which 
they have begirt us all with, and though a few of the more conserva- 
tive ones hold out fair promises, I do not believe that the party in- 
tends making any concessions. 



To THE Hon. J. J. CRITTENDEN, 

United States Senate^ IVash'ington, D. C. 

New York, December 2.6, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — Please accept my respectful thanks for the copy 
of your compromise propositions, which you were kind enough to send 
me under your frank. 

I have yet to meet the first conservative Union-loving man, in or 
out of politics, who does not approve of them, and consider them as a 
most efficacious, if not the only remedy, which can save this great 
countrv from ruin and destruction. 

Your patriotic course is warmly commended bv the good men of 
all parties, and though your noble efforts may prove of no avail against 
the sectional fanaticism conjured up by designing politicians, the lasting 
gratitude of every American citizen, who has the greatness of his 
country at heart, is due to your statesmanlike stand in defense of the 
Union and the Constitution. 

I am afraid that no human power can stay the evil, since the Re- 
publican leaders, by their vote in the committee of thirteen, have proved 
that they are determined to remain deaf to the dictates of justice and 
patriotism. 

Will the American people permit their country to be dragged to ruin 
by a handful of puritanical fanatics and selfish politicians. 

It cannot, it must not be ! We can only look for help now to the 
conservative spirit of the border and middle States, and I trust that 
prominent and leading men, like yourself, mav find early means to 
make a direct appeal to that spirit by a convention of those States. 

I have read with much interest the pamphlet, entitled The Border 
States^ which is attributed to the Hon. J. P. Kennedy, of Maryland. 
Its suggestions are practical and statesmanlike, and I hope they may 
find an echo in your State, and in Virginia. 



To THE Hon. HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON, 

Speir's Turnout^ 'Jefferson County^ Ga. 

New York, December 30, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — Since I wrote you last, I have seen, with much 
pleasure, that you have been elected a member of your State conven- 
tion. Your eloquence and popularity will give you great influence in 
that body; I still have hopes that your wise counsel will be listened 
to, and that the empire State of the South will not allow herself to 
be dragged into a precipitate and hasty action by the example of 
South Carolina. It is impossible to contemplate the events which are 
now enacting in Charleston without feeling, as a true friend of the 
South, the deepest regret and the most fearful apprehensions. 

Never was a good and righteous cause so much damaged as the just 
claims of the whole South for its Constitutional rights are at this 
moment by the revolutionary movement of South Carolina. 

Mr. Gorter showed me, a few days ago, a letter of yours, recently 
written to his father-in-law. You give, indeed, a gloomy picture of 
the state of feeling in Georgia. If your anxious forebodings should 
really prove true, and the advocates of immediate and separate secession 
should carry the day in your convention, then this great and prosperous 
Republic is doomed to pass under all the horrors of anarchy and civil 
war. 

To us conservative men of the North, who have fought the battles 
of the South for many years, and though defeated now, are still uncon- 
quered, it is a sad and incomprehensible spectacle to see the ferocity 
with which your great State rushes into the secession movement, at the 
example, nay, I may say, under the dictation of South Carolina. We 
cannot understand that the same policy should be pursued bv two 
States whose vital interests are so different, and whom we have learned 
to look upon as rivals, just as their seaports. Savannah and Charleston, 
are rivals, for commercial supremacy. 



26 To Ho/1. Herschel F. Johnson. 



It appears to me very probable that the government, being averse to 
adopting any aggressive action against South Carolina, will most likely, 
upon her taking possession of the custom-house, annex Charleston to 
Savannah as a port of entry. This course plainly could be adopted 
onlv in the event that Georgia delays the final act of secession. 1 he 
impetus which such a state of things would give to the growth of Sa- 
vannah would be lasting, while its immediate effect would be to open 
the eyes of the people of Georgia to the advantages of adhering to the 
Union. 

The second sober thought and the practical sense of the American 
people would undoubtedly unite the whole of Georgia upon the policy 
of co-operation tuith all the slaveholding States^ if a free discussion ot 
these vital questions were possible at this moment. It is, however, 
verv clear to us here at the North, that a 7-eign of terror exists at the 
South which silences the voice of every conservative patriot, and ren- 
ders it impossible for the people to arrive at a correct judgment. 

The members of the convention have been elected under this state 
of things, and I fear the worst unless you and Stephens can stem the 
torrent. I hope that your united influence will be exerted to the effect 
ot having the final action of the convention submitted to the people for their 
final ratification. This would not be asking too much, or any thing to 
which the people are not tully entitled. It is the course which has 
been generally pursued by all conventions for the amendment or for- 
mation of a constitution, in nearly all the States. It seems to me that 
when a convention passes an ordinance of secession, it takes a step 
fraught with the most fearful consequences, and it cannot hesitate to 
submit that act to the people for their ratification. 

It would be no more than fair to the people, although very disa- 
greeable to \.\\e precipitate gentlemen of the Yancey school. It would 
give time to reflect, and as the vote would be simply yea or nay^ would 
be free of that acti\e and partisan canvass which existed upon the 
election of rival delegates. 

Pray let me know whether, in your judgment, this should jiot be 
attempted, and whether you think it could not be carried. Every day 
which can be gained is of immense importance. Though the Repub- 
lican leaders in Congress have thus far disappointed m\- expectations, 
I have strong hopes that they will be compelled to yield under the 
pressure of public opinion. 

In our own city and State some of the most prominent men are 



To Hon. Hersrhel J\ Johnson. 27 



ready to follow the lead of Weed, and active agencies are at work to 
bring about a compromise. Last week the governors of seven Repub- 
lican States were here in caucus, and I am credibly informed by a 
leading Republican, that they will all recommend to their legislatures, 
in their opening messages next month, the unconditional ?iV\A ^(?r/y repeal 
of the personal-liberty bills, passed by their respective States, without 
waiting for any amendment of the fugitive-slave law by Congress. In 
regard to the Territories, the restoration of the Missouri line, extended 
to the Pacific, finds favor with most of the conservative Republicans, 
and their number is increasing daily. 

I sent you the day before yesterday a pamphlet, entitled The Border 
States. It is written bv John P. Kennedy, of Maryland, and evinces 
great statesmanship and elevation of thought. I recommend it to your 
attentive perusal. It seems to me almost impossible that such appeals 
should remain unheeded by so intelligent, high-toned, and patriotic a 
people as our Southern brethren. 

Do they not see that secession is exactly what the Abolition party 
desires most to see, in order to perpetuate the reign of their party, and 
its nefarious principles. They know that they can never attain this in 
the present Union, and are therefore content to have their sway in the 
remaining; half, sure to crush the national Democracy when once de- 
prived of its Southern support. 

I hope you will find leisure to let me hear from vou, etc. 



To THE Hon. S. A. DOUGLAS, 

IVashington^ D. C. 

New Yokk, December 31, i860. 

My Dear Sir, — Your kind favor crossed with the letter which I 
had the pleasure of addressing you last week. 

I have read carefully your resolutions for a conference, and they 
meet my entire approval. The South cannot ask for more, and the 
dominant party of the North ought certainly to acquiesce in a plan of 
settlement, which, in my opinion, would not add a foot of slave 
territory to the Union, except where climate and soil render it more 
profitable than free labor. 

Several of the ultra men of the South whom I have seen lately, are 
loud in their praises of the stand which vou have taken, and approve 
the mode of settlement proposed by your resolutions. I see, howe\'er, 
with great regret, bv the papers, that the committee of thirteen have 
rejected them. 

Now, it you will allow me one suggestion, dictated only by my warm 
attachment to you, I would advise you to support a compromise which 
has for its basis the restoration of the Missouri compromise, carried to 
the eastern frontier of California. I have good reason to know that 
the conservative portion of the Republican leaders are in favor of it, 
and it can only add to your high position as a patriotic and a Union man, 
if you support actively and energetically the restoration of the Missouri 
line. 

It will forever silence the clamors of your enemies at the North, 
who have tried to lay the repeal of that act at your door, forgetting 
the refusal of the North to carry that line to the Pacific rendered that 
repeal necessary. 

The self-denial and sacrifice of your favored doctrine of popular 
sovereignty, when the salvation of the Union requires it, would place 
you higher in the affections of the American people than you have ever 
been before. I am told by Republican leaders that they will not vote 



Ti? Hon. S. J. Doi/gliis. 29 



for Crittenden's amendment because they will not accept the Missouri 
line for future acquisitions of territory. They say this would be holding 
out a premium for filibustering against Mexico and Cuba, in order to 
make new slave States. If you could hit upon some plan of compro- 
mise by which to get over this difficulty, there might be some hope of 
saving the country. 

I have written, yesterday, to Governor Johnson, of Georgia, urging 
upon him the policy of getting the convention of his State to submit 
their final action to the ratification of the people, and showing how 
incompatible with the best interests of Georgia it would be to follow in 
the wake of South Carolina. 

I beg to hand you inclosed copy of my letter, and if you approve of 
my suggestions, I hope you will find leisure to recommend them to the 
earnest consideration of Stephens and Johnson. 

My own impressions are very gloomy indeed, and I fear nothing will 
be done to save the sinking ship of state. We must, however, do our 
duty as men, and stand by the Union to the last. 



To THE Hon. W. H. SEWARD, 

United States Senate^ IVash'ington^ D. C. 

, New York, January 17, 1861. 

My Dear Sir, — I had intended for the last few days to express to 
you my sincere admiration of your patriotic and statesmanlike speech 
in the United States Senate, on Saturday last, but have been prevented 
by indisposition until to-day. 

The graphic and masterly manner with which you depict the bless- 
ings of the Union, and the inevitable calamities of its dissolution, will, 
I trust, open the eyes of the extreme men on both sides to the mad- 
ness of their course. In paying to your patriotism a willing tribute of the 
gratitude of a political opponent, for the manly stand which you have 
taken, may I also be allowed to express the hope that we may look 
forward to your leading your party further on in the path of moderate 
and conciliatory measures, which alone can save us from all the hor- 
rors of dissolution and civil war. 

Without wishing for a moment to defend the revolutionary pro- 
ceedings of South Carolina, and some of the other cotton States, I 
may be allowed to express my intimate conviction, based upon infor- 
mation from the most conservative men in the border States, that 
nothing can prevent Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Ken- 
tucky, from joining the movement of the cotton States, unless com- 
promise measures, based upon the propositions ot Senator Crittenden, 
can be carried by a sufficient majority through Congress, to insure 
their embodiment in the Constitution. 

I know that many, if not most of the Republican leaders are, until 
now, opposed to these measures, but do they represent the real feeling 
of their constituents ? I think not ; the large masses of our Northern 
people are, by an overwhelming majority, devotedly attached to the 
Union. They are ready and anxious to bring every sacrifice for its 
preservation, and will, to a man, abide by your doctrine: '•'' Republi- 
canism is subordinate to the Union^ as every thing else is^ and ought to be^ 



To Hun. // . H. Se-icufcL qi 

If we could get at the true sentiment of our people throughout the 
North, I think we might get over our present difficulties ; in fact, I do 
not see any other means of saving the Union. I therefore approve 
most cordially of your suggestion for a general convention, and hope 
only that you could be induced to modify your recommendation, so as 
to make this appeal now, and not in two or three years. 

It, by a tardy action, the tobacco States are allowed to cast their lot 
with the seceders, and thus form a powerful Southern Confederacy of 
fifteen States, as they will most assuredly do unless an equitable com- 
promise on the territorial question can be obtained, I fear that a recon- 
struction of our confederacy would be utterly hopeless hereafter. 

Providence has assigned to you a position of great and fearful 
responsibility in this crisis. You can preserve this great Union, with 
all its untold blessings, not only to the millions of freemen who con- 
gregate under its protecting wing, but to the oppressed in every portion 
of the inhabited globe. The downfall of our government would be 
the death-knell to political and religious liberty in both hemispheres. 
You have the sympathies of every patriot with vou in the course 
which you have initiated by your great speech. The manifestations, 
on the part of prominent men of both parties, are most unequivocal in 
their sincere approbation of the stand which they hope to see you 
take. 

Your efforts will entitle you to the gratitude of the whole American 
people, and vou will change the proud position of the great leader of 
a victorious party for the more exalted and honorable one of the bene- 
factor and savior of your country. 



To Baron LIONEL de ROTHSCHILD, M. P., 

London. 

New York, May 21, 18 61. 

Dear Baron, — The telegraphic report of Lord John Russell's 
declaration in Parliament, on the 6th inst., concerning Southern pri- 
vateers, has created a painful surprise and disappointment throughout 
the whole North. 

In placing them upon the footing of belligerents.^ the English 
government takes an initiative step toward recognizing the Southern 
Confederacy, because the letters of marque of an unauthorized and 
unrecognized government, in rebellion against the constituted authori- 
ties, can, under the law of nations, only be regarded by every maritime 
power as pirates, and treated accordingly. 

If Ireland or Scotland should revolt against the British crown, or 
Canada attempt to dissolve her allegiance to the mother countrv, would 
the United States be justified in recognizing the privateers fitted out by 
the rebels, as belligerents ? I am sure that our government would not 
assume such an unfriendly position, and give so material a support to 
a rebellious province, in endangering the trade of its allies, and of the 
world at large. 

With the blockade of the Southern ports, which before a fortnight 
can have elapsed will be an effective one, from the Chesapeake to the 
Rio Grande, the privateers of Jeff. Davis would have soon disappeared 
from the ocean, even if they ever made their appearance, had the dec- 
laration of Lord John not opened to them the British ports in the 
West Indies, Canada, and Great Britain. 

It may be that the British government will not condemn any prizes 
brought by the privateers into its ports, but the fact of their being 
allowed to run in for supplies and coal, and to escape into the many 
ports and inlets of the West Indies, where our ships of war cannot 
follow them, will attract numerous lawless adventurers under the 
oiratical flag of the Southern rebels. 



Ti? Baron Lionel de Rothschild^ M. P. 33 

The position which your government seems inclined to take in the 
contest, is, in my opinion, a very unfortunate one. It will complicate 
matters, must prolong the struggle, and result in a very bitter feeling 
between this country and England. 

The whole North, without distinction of party, is determined not to 
allow our government and our Union to be destroyed, and I am sure 
the sword will never be laid down until the American flag floats again 
from Maine to the Mississippi. The people feel that they are fighting 
for their national existence, and that no sacrifice can be too great in 
order to maintain and preserve that boon. 

What the South claims now is for us to give up every port, from the 
Chesapeake to the Mississippi, to a foreign power, which has shown 
sufficiently within the last few months how far public and private 
property and obligations are to be respected by it. 

In the struggle which is before us we had hoped for the sympathy 
of Europe, and particularly of England. Your statesmen and your 
press have at all times taken the most violent and uncompromising 
stand against slavery, and it is more than strange to see the British 
government now give its moral countenance to a power which, under 
the declaration of its Vice-President (Alex. Stephens) is based upon 
slavery as its principal fundamental strength. That basis will most 
probably require the reopening of the slave trade, as soon as England 
shall have recognized the Confederacy, and should in that event the 
sympathy of the British cabinet stop short, and not allow the cotton- 
growers to strengthen the foundations of their government, then Mr. 
JefF. Davis will of course put an embargo upon the export of cotton, 
in order to compel England to consent to the nefarious traffic in human 
flesh. He could certainly not be charged with a want of logic, by 
reasoning that the same power which induced England to throw her 
weight into the scale of a rebellious slave power, trying to overthrow 
our free institutions, would also be sufficiently potent to compel her 
to consent to the Confederacy drawing its supplies from Africa, of an 
element which the founders of that Confederacy had openly declared to 
the civilized world to be the basis of this young creation, claiming rank 
among the civilized nations of the world. 

Some few months back there were many conservative men at the 
North, and I was among the number, who, when all attempts at com- 
promise had failed against the blind ultraism of both sections, advocated 
a peaceable separation of the cotton States. This was, however, to be 

5 



34 T'f? Baron Lionel de Rothschild^ M. P. 

confined to them alone, and was then considered the surest means of 
an early reconstruction, when the Union feeling in the misguided 
States would have had time and opportunity to develop itself, by 
showing to the people of those States how fatally they were mistaken 
in their hopes of prosperity outside of the Union. 

Things have, however, changed very materially since. The attack 
upon Fort Sumter, the lawless acts of the Southern Confederacy, the 
treason in Virginia and Tennessee, have placed every loyal citizen to 
the choice between a firm and manful support of our government, or a 
disgraceful drifting of our nationality into a state or anarchy and disso- 
lution, similar to the fate of Mexico and Central America. 

Lord John Russell draws an analogy of the Southern rebellion to the 
struggle for independence by Greece, and asserts that because England 
recognized Greece then as a belligerent, the South has to be recognized 
now by her in the same character. Greece was a conquered and en- 
slaved province of a semi-barbarous despotism, and had never been 
completely subjugated. It was a Christian people, tyrannized by 
fanatical Moslemism, and had the warm and active sympathy of the 
whole civilized world on its side. 

The Southern States, who are now in a state of rebellion against 
the Federal government, were free and voluntary parties to a compact 
of union, which was declared to be perpetual. They cannot point to 
a single right guaranteed to them by the Constitution, which has been 
violated, and the only ground upon which they justify their rebellion, 
is the fear that their peculiar institution of slavery may hereafter be 
interfered with by the party which put Mr. Lincoln into power. 

I am free to say that the simile of Lord John is as unfortunate as 
the position which he has initiated for his government in this crisis. 
The British cabinet will, if this course should be persisted in, commit 
the fatal error of losing the good will of the party ivhich in the end 
must be successful^ in order to gain the friendship of those whose defeat 
can only be*a question of time. We have three times as large a pop- 
ulation, as united and brave as theirs ; we have a navy, we have money 
and credit, in which latter they are most sadly and justly deficient. 

Already, Davis is again in the market with a loan of fifty millions of 
dollars. Who will loan a dollar to a confederacy of States, of which 
four have already repudiated their debts, while the remaining five will 
in less than three months be in default of their semi-annual dividends, 
unless it be that the name of JefF. Davis, notwithstanding his advocacy 



To Baron Lionel de Rothschild^ M. P. 35 

of repudiation in his own State, Mississippi, should have a sweeter 
sound to European capitalists, than I think he will ever acquire. In 
less than a year the Confederate States will pay their obligations in 
treasury warrants, which will have the same ultimate value as the 
French "assignats." 

You know that I have never been in favor of the party which is 
now at the head of our government, and my convictions on this point 
have in no way been changed. I am, however, convinced that the 
whole North, to a man, will stand by the administration in the 
present struggle, and that come tuhat ?nay^ the integrity of the Union, 
and the inviolability of our territory, will be maintained to the bitter 
end. 

Civil war is now upon us ; no human power can prevent it. A 
vigorous and gigantic effort, on the part of the North, may, and 1 
am confident will, shorten its horrors and disastrous results. An inter- 
ference or one-sided neutrality, such as is foreshadowed by Lord John 
Russell's speech, can only prolong the fratricidal war, and entail ruin, 
not only upon both sections of our country, but upon the material 
interests and commerce of the world. 



To Baron LIONEL de ROTHSCHILD, M. P., 

London. 

New York, May 28, 1861. 

Dear Baron, — Since my letter by the Jfrica steamer we have 
received the proclamation of the Queen, commanding a strict neutrality 
to her subjects in the struggle in which the government of the United 
States is now engaged against a portion of its citizens, now in rebellion 
against their constituted authorities. 

It would be difficult for me to convey to you an idea of the general 
feeling of disappointment and irritation produced in this country, by 
this manifesto of the British government, by which a few revolted 
States are placed, in their relations with Great Britain, upon the same 
footing as the government of the United States. 

People naturally compare the position which England takes now 
against us, to her stand during the Carlist war in Spain. The rebellion 
in the South has not the same chances of success as there existed cer- 
tainly at one time for the cause of the Spanish pretender. Yet it 
certainly never occurred to the British crown for one moment to 
acknowledge Don Carlos in the light of a belligerent. On the con- 
trary, we saw a British legion, armed and equipped in England, and 
commanded by an English general officer, fight for the cause of the 
constitutional and rightful sovereignty. 

When Hungary, some years later, made an heroic effort to reconquer 
her nationality and independence, England did not cease to consider 
her as a revolted province, although the sympathies of the majority of 
the English people were on the side of the rebels, and though nothing 
but the powerful intervention of Russia prevented a success of that 
revolution. 

Recently, again, on the other hand, we have seen men and arms 
equipped by British subjects, leave the English ports to assist the cause 
of Italian independence under Garibaldi. 

The people of the United States had certainly a right to hope and 



T^o Baron Lionel de Rothschild^ M. P. on 

expect the same support in their struggle for their national existence 
against the unjust and unwarrantable revolt of an unprincipled oligarchy, 
based upon the most odious domestic institution, and against which no 
government has heretofore taken so decided a stand as Great Britain 
herself. 

If not an actual violation of international law, it must certainly be 
considered an act of extreme unfriendliness on the part of any govern- 
ment to place itself on a footing of neutrality between a power with 
which it entertains intimate diplomatic and commercial relations, and 
a revoked portion of that nation, unrecognized by any civilized gov- 
ernment, and having so far in no way shown any evidence that it will 
be able to maintain the position which it has assumed against its legit- 
imate government. 

I fear that the very cordial good-feeling which, notwithstanding the 
delicate questions arising, from time to time, between the two govern- 
ments, has pervaded all classes of our people toward the British nation, 
and of which, as well as of their deep-felt veneration for the Queen, they 
have given such a unanimous and striking evidence on the occasion of 
the laying of the Atlantic telegraph cable, and the recent visit of the 
Prince of Wales, will make room to sentiments of bitter resentment 
and animosity if the British government should persist in its present 
attitude. 

Even upon the point of strict neutrality the proclamation goes 
further than international law and comity would seem to require. 
While the prohibition of equipment and enlistment of armaments and 
troops by British subjects in British ports is a measure of neutrality, 
it is certainly stretching the point to prevent British merchant vessels 
from carrying arms, military stores, etc., etc., to our ports or those of 
the Confederate Stares. The ports of the latter being blockaded by 
our navy, this restriction is entirely aimed against us, and is, therefore, 
an actual assistance to the rebels. 

During the Crimean war, notwithstanding the strict neutrality of 
our government, which forbade enlistments, etc., etc., our vessels 
carried troops, arms, and military stores from English and French 
ports into the Crimea. The American ship-owners did this at their 
own peril in case of capture by Russian vessels of war, but our gov- 
ernment did not prohibit it, notwithstanding that, as in the present 
case, it only was done to the advantage of one of the belligerent 
parties, Russia being blockaded then as the South is now. 



38 To Baron Lionel de Rothschild, M. P. 

My fears that the position of England would only complicate 
matters, are, unfortunatelv, very likely to be realized. The sympathy 
of the British government for the South, so far from lessening the 
determination of our government and people, has only increased their 
ardor. It is now a question of national existence and co?n?nercial pros- 
perity^ and the choice can, of course, not be doubtful. 

I have, within the last few days, seen the best informed and most 
influential men in our administration, and I am more than ever con- 
vinced that the war will be carried on with energy and vigor. Large 
numbers of troops are concentrating around Virginia and Maryland, 
and our navy is at once to be increased by the building of fifty steam 
gun-boats and several large vessels of war. The only chance for the 
peace of the world and the immense interests which are at stake in 
this struggle, is its early termination by the overshadowing power of 
the North. 

England's position threatens to prolong the war by giving hope and 
comfort to the rebels. The requirements of the cotton-spinners in 
Lancashire have, of course, a good deal to do with the unexpected 
attitude assumed by your government, but my conviction is, that if the 
North should be pushed to the wall by these hostile influences, and the 
war last more than a year, it will end in the complete destruction of 
the South, because what is now a war for the reconstruction of the 
Union, in which all the Constitutional rights of the South would be 
secured, would then lead to the utter annihilation of the slavery 
interest. The short-sighted policy of the gentlemen in Manchester, 
who now allow cotton to outweigh their anti-slavery professions, may 
therefore end in much worse consequences for them than the shoit 
supplies of one or two years. 

The Morrill tariff would most assuredly have been modified, if not 
entirely repealed, at the next session of Congress, which is to assemble 
on the 4th of July next. The requirements of our revenue and the 
general feeling of the North called for it. I am, however, very much 
afraid that the unfriendly position assumed by England will produce a 
revulsion here, and that no modification can be obtained, unless pre- 
ceded by a change in the tone and policy of your press and govern- 
ment. 

I hope your influence and that of all those who wish to see a speedy 
end of our present calamities, will be exerted toward bringing about 
such a change. ... 



To THE Hon. W. H. SEWARD, 

Secretary of State^ IP'ashington^ D. C. 

New York, May 29. 1S61. 

My Dear Sir, — I am extremely obliged to you for the verv kind 
and flattering manner with which you speak of a letter of mine to 
Baron Rothschild, of which a copy had been handed to you by Mr. 
Weed. 

The Baron is a very intimate friend of Lord John Russell, both 
representing the city of London in Parliament, and he is on equally 
friendly relations with Lord Palmerston. 

I know that his personal views and sympathies have been, and are, 
still, with the North, and I have no doubt but what he will communi- 
cate my views to his ministerial friends. 

As you have given a favorable consideration to my views on the 
unfriendly attitude assumed by the British Crown, I beg to hand you 
the inclosed copy of another letter which I wrote yesterday to Baron 
Rothschild on the proclamation of the Queen, and which I hope you 
will find leisure to peruse. 



To THE Right Hon. Lord DUNFERiMLINE, 

House of Lords ^ London. 

New York, June 3, 1861. 

My Dear Lord Dunfermline, — The friendly relations which 
have existed during several years between us, and which I shall always 
cherish among the bright recollections of my sojourn at the Hague, 
induce me to address you this letter, for which I crave your kind and 
favorable consideration. 

The unfortunate position into which a few reckless and selfish 
politicians, aided by the weakness of our late national administration, 
have thrown this country, is at this moment directing the serious at- 
tention of the British government and people toward us. Knowing 
your warm and active sympathy, and that of your noble and influential 
family, for the cause of constitutional libertv, I am sure that vou are 
among those who watch with intense interest the phases of the dark 
drama which is now enacting on this continent, between the United 
States, struggling for their national existence, and a rebellious faction, 
attempting to overthrow our free institutions, in order to plant slavery 
on the whole American continent. 

From the tenor of the English press, and the debates in Parliament, 
I am inclined to believe that there exists a serious misapprehension in 
the minds of your government and people in regard to the nature of the 
Southern rebellion, and the chances of its success. 

If you allow me, I will give you my views on the present position 
of affairs here, in as short a space as the form of a letter, and my de- 
sire not to bore you with a lengthy epistle, will permit. I may claim 
that these views, however erroneous and imperfect thev mav prove, 
have at least the merit of fairness and impartiality. My politics have 
always been opposed to the party now in power, the advent of which 
has been used by the leaders of the Southern conspiracy as a watch- 
word for an overthrow of our government. I was, and am, opposed to 
an useless agitation of the slavery question, and any infringement of 



To Right Hon. Lord DunfcnnUne. 41 



the Constitutional rights of the South, under a tairand liberal construc- 
tion, and am equally hostile to the anti-free-trade proclivities of the 
present administration. 

You are doubtless aware that the so-called Republican (anti-slavery) 
party which is now in power, was first able to claim the position of a 
national party in 1854, in consequence of the daily increasing aggres- 
sions and demands of the pro-slavery oligarchy, which had gained the 
control of the executive and legislature of the Federal (jovernment. 
The dastardly assault upon Senator Sumner, from Massachusetts, pro- 
voked as it undoubtedly was bv the violent language of that senator, 
and the fraud and violence with which the pro- slavery party attempted 
to force a slavery constitution upon the new State of Kansas, drove 
hundreds of thousands throughout the North into the ranks of the new 
party. 

In 1856 that party, for the first time, put a candidate for the Presi- 
dency in nomination, upon the avowed doctrine of preventing the 
extension of slavery to our western Territories. Mr. Fremont was 
then defeated by Mr. Buchanan, who enjoyed the confidence of a 
very large majority of the conservative and influential portion of 
the country, and in whose sagacity, experience, and familiarity with 
public afi^airs, everybody hoped for a strong government, and for the 
suppression of the seditious cry of disunion which had been raised by 
the political leaders of the South ever since the formation of the 
Republican party. 

In these expectations the country was sadly disappointed. Mr, 
Buchanan threw himself from the very outset into the arms of the 
very men who are now the rebel leaders of the South. His cabinet, 
chosen under such influences, sympathized, with one single exception, 
and was in secret league with the conspirators, giving them during the 
last four years ample time, means, and influence, in order to prepare 
their treasonable machinations. 

The Secretary of War, convicted since his retirement of actual 
treason and fraud, had placed all the Federal forts in the South, and an 
immense quantity of arms, within their reach, so that when the time 
had come for them to throw down the mask they were enabled to give 
to their movement an appearance of strength and probability of suc- 
cess, which evidently has deceived public opinion in England. 

Upon the first outbreak of secession, and when it was confined to 
the cotton States, there was also a large party at the North which was 

6 



42 I'o Right Hon. Lord 'Dunfermline. 



in favor of compromise measures, in order to bring the seceding States 
back to their allegiance. When these failed against the uncompromi- 
sing attitude of the extremists South and North, they even went so far 
as to advocate a peaceable separation of the cotton States, convinced 
that the latter, when once out of the Union, would soon discover how 
fearfully they had been deceived by their selfish and designing leaders, 
and that they would be but too glad after a year or so to return into 
the confederacy. 

The attack against Fort Sumter, the treacherv of Virginia and North 
Carolina, and the conduct of JefF. Davis, have, however, since then, 
produced a revolution in the public mind of the North, of the strength^ 
intensity^ and unanhn'ity of which it would be impossible for me to con- 
vey to you even the faintest idea. 

The people of the North see now revealed to them, in all their hor- 
rid nakedness, the treasonable schemes of the slavery oligarchy, who, 
while pretending to battle for their threatened Constitutional rights, 
have dragged the country to this fearful condition, for no other purpose 
but to insure to themselves the continuance of that power which they 
have wielded for the last forty years, and to fasten slavery^ as a political 
element^ upon this country. The North feels that to admit the right 
of secession claimed by the revolted States, would be forever to re- 
nounce our existence as a nation, and that a peaceful separation of 
fifteen slave States on one side, and seventeen free States on the other, 
divided only by an imaginary geographical line, must soon be followed 
by war and strife, however much treaties and diplomacy might attempt 
to prevent it. Besides, can it be expected that the powerful North 
and Northwest, with a hardy and industrious population of twenty- 
one millions of freemen, would quietly relinquish the mouth of the 
Mississippi, and all the seaports, from the Chesapeake to the Rio 
Grande, into the possession of a foreign nation, ruled by unscrupulous 
and reckless politicians, who, for the sake of their odious domestic 
institution, and upon the strength of their cotton monopolv, would dis- 
regard and violate treaty-stipulations, whenever it would suit their con- 
venience. 

With a due appreciation of these considerations, it cannot be doubt- 
ed that no sacrifice will be too great for the people of the North in 
support of their government, and the maintenance of the integrity of 
their country. We are all united, while we know that in Virginia, 
Tennessee, and Alabama, a very considerable portion of the inhabi- 



T'o Right Hon. Lord Di/nferm!/ne. 43 



tants are openly in favor of the Union, and we have good reason to 
suppose that a very numerous minority in the other cotton States, with 
the exception, perhaps, of South Carolina, is opposed to secession. 

The contest must end in the victory of the government, but I fear 
that the position of neutrality taken by your government, which raises 
the rebels to the dignity of belligerents, will give them a moral support 
only calculated to prolong the war and its horrors. 

We had hoped for the active sympathy and support of the British 
government and people, in our struggle against the spread of the insti- 
tution of slavery, and against a rebellion, which, by the confession and 
boast of its leaders, is based upon that institution as its principal 
element of power. 

We could not, of course, expect a direct interference of your gov- 
ernment in our intestine quarrel, but we thought that, as they had here- 
tofore done in the case of Greece, Italy, and Spain, the British people 
would be allowed to follow their noble instincts for freedom and con- 
stitutional liberty, and that the anti-slavery cause, which had always 
been so warmly advocated in England, would now find means, money, 
and men, in its dark hour of trial, to assist us against the most unjus- 
tifiable and criminal rebellion which has ever disgraced the annals of 
history. 

These hopes have been most sadlv disappointed by the proclamation 
of the Queen, declaring strict neutralitv between the government of 
the United States and a portion of its citizens in rebellion against that 
government. It has, however, in no way lessened the determination 
of the United North to fight for the restoration of the integrity of their 
government to the last man. With the preponderance of men and 
resources which we possess over the South, the final result can only 
be a question of time ; but if the British government desires, as it 
undoubtedly must, to see the length and horrors of this fratricidal 
war diminished, its true policy must be to avoid any thing which 
in the remotest way can give aid and comfort to the seceded 
States. 

Our government has given, by one of the first acts of the new 
administration, its consent to the first article of the declaration of the 
Paris Conference on the right of neutrals, abolishing privateers. With 
its consent, all the maritime powers of the world have now united in 
declaring privateering piracy, and I hope sincerely that this progress in 
civilization and humanity will be secured bv the acceptance of the 



44 T<? R?ght Hon. Lord Dunfermline. 



consent of my government, notwithstanding that we were somewhat 
slow in making up our mind. 

I trust, also, that the restrictions imposed by the Queen's procla- 
mation, by which British merchant-vessels are prohibited from carrying 
arms and munitions of war to either of the belligerents, mav be 
repealed. 

The Southern ports being blockaded by our navy, this restriction 
results of course to the direct advantage of the rebels, and prevents, 
moreover, your shipowners and manufacturers from realizing a legiti- 
mate profit by the manufacturing and carrying of English arms to our 
ports. 

During the Crimean war, notwithstanding the strict neutrality of 
our government, our merchant-ships and steamers were chartered 
by the English and PVench authorities, for the carrying of troops and 
arms to the Crimea, and large numbers of arms were manufactured 
here, and sent in American vessels to England. 

Our government did not interfere with its ship-owners and manu- 
facturers in the lawful pursuit of their trade, and as the Russian ports 
were then in the same position as our Southern ports are at present, the 
neutral course of the United States resulted to the advantage of the 
allies. 

I hope, my dear Lord Dunfermline, that you will excuse this very 
lengthy epistle, and I trust that your powerful influence will be exerted 
in favor of the cause of right, justice, and freedom. Your position in 
the House of Lords, and your intimate relations with Lord John 
Russell, give a peculiar weight to any steps you may feel induced to 
take in this important question. 

The cordial good feeling of our people for Great Britain, and their 
deepfelt love and respect for the Queen, will be very much 
strengthened by an evidence of sympathy on the part of the British 
nation and government tor our cause, which is that of justice and 
humanity. 

If you have sufficient leisure left to let me hear from you, I shall 
be much gratified, and if I can learn from you that 1 ha\e not in vain 
advocated the cause of my country, it will be a source of pride and 
happiness to me. 



To THE Hon. W. H. SEWARD, 

Washington^ D. C. 

New York, June 6, 1861. 

My Dear Sir, — In your last kind letter, you requested me to 
inform you, from time to time, of the phases of public opinion in 
Europe, as they may come to my knowledge. I shall do so with 
pleasure, but hope that you will excuse my request if I beg you to 
consider mv communications as strictly confidential. 

The letters received by last steamer from England are any thing but 
satisfactory. The cotton interest seems to have gained so complete 
an ascendency over every other consideration, that the anti-slavery 
feeling is entirely pushed into the background. 

I fear that the British cabinet is seriously contemplating the recog- 
nition of the Southern Confederacy, and what is worse is the almost 
certainty that France will act in concert with England. 

If you will not take it amiss, I will make bold enough to give you, 
as my candid opinion, that the Morrill tariff has had as much to do 
with the unfortunate state of feeling in Europe as any other circum- 
stance. 

England and France are compelled to keep their army and navy on 
the most extensive war footing, both mistrusting each other. In order 
to obtain the enormous sums required for such a state of things, both 
governments must bring every sacrifice of principle rather than see their 
commercial and manufacturing interests endangered. Our tariff and 
our blockade strike a mortal blow to both, and as we cannot, of course, 
give up the latter, it is certainly worthy the serious consideration of 
our government and people to see whether sound policy does not dic- 
tate the modification of the first. Apart from the change of public 
feeling which a return to free-trade principles would produce in 
England and France, I think that we absolutely require it in order to 
increase our revenue, which, under the present system, must continue 
to be very low. The only interest, in my opinion, for which the plea 



46 I'o Hon. W. H. Seward. 



of protection can be advanced with any degree of justice, is our iron 
interest, and that can be sufficiently done by a specific duty. 

For the rest there ought, in my opinion, to be an average duty of 
fifteen per cent., and coffee and tea might be taken from the free list. 

The government will very soon require a new loan, probably not 
less than thirty or forty millions, and I confess, candidly, that I do 
not see any chance for the negotiation of it in Europe, unless the 
chances of an increased revenue are secured by such a measure. 

Before the war can be brought to a satisfactory termination we shall 
require from fifty to one hundred millions of dollars at least, and I 
think it will be absolutely necessary to look to the European money 
market for at least a portion of that amount. 

By a reduction of our tariff to fifteen per cent., we take away a very 
great inducement for Erance and England to force our blockade and 
to recognize the South. They evidently expect now, not only to get 
their supply of cotton, but also to export their produce and manufac- 
tures into the Southern ports, to be from there smuggled into the 
West and North. 

With a duty of fifteen per cent., the South cannot defray her 
expenses of a war, even if the blockade should not exist, and will be 
obliged to have recourse to an export duty on cotton and tobacco, 
and nothing will bring out a Union feeling so soon as that, among the 
influential planting interest. 

Excuse the freedom of the expression of my views — they are based 
upon the best information I can command, abroad and at home, and 
they are dictated by a sincere devotion to my government. 



To N. M. ROTHSCHILD & SONS, 

London. 

New York, June 7, 1861. 

There is nothing new since my last from the seat of war, but a col- 
lision of an important nature must soon take place. A gentleman, 
just returned from Washington, and a personal friend of General 
Scott, tells me that the latter is very confident of a successful termi- 
nation of the campaign. 

If the rebellion is not overcome bv next autumn, a force of one 
hundred thousand men from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio will descend 
the Mississippi and break the backbone of secession in Mississippi and 
Louisiana. In the latter State, and particularly in New Orleans, they 
are beginning to earn the bitter fruits of their folly. The sugar 
interest is entirely ruined. 

My conviction is, that if left to themselves, the Secessionists would 
have given up their wicked cause before next spring, but I fear that 
the hope and comfort given to them by the position of the British 
government and press will prolong the strife, and may bring with it 
complications of the gravest nature. 

Lord Palmerston's organ, the Morning Post., hints at a recognition 
of the Southern Confederacy as a de facto government, and ridicules 
the tone of Mr. Seward's dispatch to Mr. Davton. 

I will not defend the latter, nor its ill-timed and indecorous publica- 
tion before Mr. Dayton had even been received at the Tuileries, but 
I do maintain that an implied recognition of the rebellious States by 
the semi-official organ of the British Premier at this moment, when 
the struggle has barely begun, cannot be viewed but in the light of 
extreme unfriendliness to the United States, and as a preconceived 
determination on the part of the British government to take sides with 
the slavery interest. 

If this policy were intended to make the North pause at the con- 



48 T^ A^. M. Rothschild & Sons. 



templation of the increased difficulties of the struggle for its national 
existence, it has certainly most singularly failed in its object. 

The determination of our people to fight the question of secession 
and slavery extension has only been strengthened by the news from 
your side, and I am sure that even the certainty of the gravest compli- 
cations with the mighty power of England would in no way change the 
attitude and determination of the United States. The people are far 
in advance of the government. 

It seems almost incredible to see England, the great advocate and 
leader of negro emancipation, give, now, her aid and influence to a 
most criminal rebellion, got up for no other purpose than that of 
fastening slavery not only upon our country, but also upon Mexico and 
Central America. 

If the cotton supply is at the bottom of this unaccountable policy, 
then I must say that it is a very short-sighted one, and one which must 
bring untold ruin and desolation upon the material interests of both 
hemispheres. Should England interfere with our blockade of the 
Southern ports, and allow Southern privateers to visit her ports, it will 
necessarily give fresh power and courage to the Southern rebels and 
thus prolong a resistance which otherwise, and without the moral sup- 
port from abroad, would not have had the most remote chance of 
success. 

If the war is thereby prolonged, and we are prevented from bringing 
the rebels to their senses by the more humane process of a blockade, 
we may see next spring a war of extermination by the Northwest 
against the homes and plantations of the South. 

I assure you that I do not exaggerate the state of feeling here, and 
I am morally convinced that my darkest apprehensions will be verified 
if your government really intends to pursue the policy foreshadowed 
now by the press and the debates in Parliament. 



To Messrs. N. M. ROTHSCHILD & SONS, 

London. 

New York, June ii, 1861. 

Gentlemen, — Since last steamer we have received your favor of 
the 28th ult., the contents of which I have duly noted. 

I hope that the reply which you received in regard to sending out 
British ships to any of our Southern ports for the purpose of taking 
away goods will be the principle upon which your government will 
act on the question of our blockade. The whole strength of the 
South, and that upon which they expect to succeed, is the requirement 
of cotton by England. King Cotton is to rule the world and make 
African slavery the foundation of the new republic, stretching from 
the Chesapeake over Mexico and the Isthmus of Darien. 

If England and France do not interfere, if they respect the closing 
of our Southern ports by act of Congress, as long as thev remain in a 
state of rebellion (because that is, after all, what the misnamed blockade 
ought really to be called), and if they deny to the privateers of either 
party the entrance into British and French ports, I expect to see the 
question settled by next spring. 

Bv that time the South will be exhausted, and the losses ot the 
North will have been sufficiently severe for both to see the necessity 
of an end to this contest, and modifications in the Constitution will 
be accepted by both parties, which will settle forever the question that 
we are a nation, and not a co-partnership ot States. 

Had England taken a less unfriendly position toward us, no Euro- 
pean sovereign could have done half as much toward bringing about 
such a result, by offering her powerful mediation, as the Queen of 
England, for whose person and character the deepest veneration per- 
vades all classes of our people. 

I fear this opportunity is lost, and the debates in Parliament, as 
well as the tone of your press, as thev reach us by each successive 
steamer, only increase the irritation produced bv the position of your 



50 "To Messrs. N. iM. Rothschild & Sons. 

government, which develops itself daily more into a quasi recognition 
of the rebel government. 

It is strange that in those debates your minister should have been 
led into a mistake not at all borne out by facts. 

In referring to the outrage committed against a British captain in 
the port of Savannah, Lord John Russell states that this took place 
before the secession of the Southern States. 

This is a mistake. It was one of the many lawless acts committed 
by the governors and people of the Southern States after they had dis- 
solved their connection with the Federal government and had seized 
the national forts, property, and money. 

It is, however, gratifying, that the same distinguished statesman, in 
the debates of the 30th ult., ascribes our present troubles to their true 
cause — " the accursed poison of slavery left them by Eriglafid." 

Why is it that this truth has not guided vour government from the 
very outset of the rebellion, and why is it that for the last thirty years 
the English press and people have taunted us with the utifortunate 
inheritance^ and fanned, in that way, the fanatical abolitionism of the 
New England States, until it has broken out into a flame which 
threatens to destroy not only the prosperity of this continent, but also 
the peace and good will of the two great representatives of civil and 
religious liberty. 

" The accursed poison of slavery " will be fastened as a political and 
social institution upon this continent, from the Chesapeake to the 
Cordilleras, if the British government continues in the course which 
it has begun. 



To THE Hon. S. P. CHASE, 

Secretary of the Treasury^ IVash'ington^ D. C. 

New York, June 1 8, 1861. 

My Dear Sir, — I have the pleasure of handing vou inclosed 
copies of the decrees of the Emperor Napoleon, and of the report of 
his Minister of Finance, relative to the last national loan of five hun- 
dred millions of francs, issued during the last Crimean war. 

You will see, thereby, that the subscription was open in all the 
departments of France for a fortnight at 92 per cent, for ^\ per cent, 
stock, and ^S-i^i) P^'" cent, for 3 per cent, stock, which was about 
one to one and three-quarters per cent, lower than the stock was 
quoted on that day in Paris, say 93 per cent, for the ^^ per cent., 
and 67^^^ per cent, for the three per cent. Rentes. 

The subscription amounted to two billion one hundred and seventy- 
five million francs, that is to say, more than four times as much as 
was required; and the amount required was more than filled up by 
subscriptions of under five hundred francs^ Rentes, sav about twelve 
to fifteen thousand francs capital, so that the large subscribers got 
nothing. 

This loan was issued in the midst of the Crimean war, and nine 
months only after a similar loan of two hundred and fifty millions, 
which had been taken in the same proportions. You will also see 
that a sinking fund is attached to this loan. 

If our brave army is, as I trust and hope, victorious in its engage- 
ments with the rebels in Virginia, there will be no difficulty in nego- 
tiating large amounts of Federal stock here and in Europe. 

The elastic energy of the American people makes them desirous to 
get quickly through their troubles, and I have no doubt that a vigor- 
ous prosecution of the war, and a consequent demand for larger 
appropriations, will be well received by the people. 

My last letter from Paris states : " All uneasiness of hostilities in 
Europe during the present year appear to have disappeared. Our 



52 To Hon. S. P. Chase. 



bank is amply supplied with bullion, and the subscription, which 
has just closed, to an issue of two hundred and forty million francs 
railway bonds, has so enormously exceeded the amount as to prove 
to excess that there is plenty of money here which seeks suitable 
in\ estmenrs." 



To Baron JAMES de ROTHSCHILD, 

Paris. 

New York. June i8, i86i. 

As far as it lies in-mv power, I shall continue to give you the most 
accurate information of the march of events here. I have already 
expressed to you, repeatedly, my conviction, that unless aided by the 
moral support of France and England the Southern rebellion has no 
chance of success, and must be completely overcome. 

General Scott is perfectly confident that bv next spring he will have 
conquered a peace. My short visit to Washington, and the inter- 
views which I had there with the difterent members of the adminis- 
tration, convince me more and more that the government is deter- 
mined to carry on the war with the utmost vigor. from what Mr. 
Seward told me, it would seem that France will act jointly with 
England in its policy during the present war. I regret this for the 
reasons which I have already given to you. 

England has, by her unfriendly position, lost the good-will of our 
people and government, who both look, more than ever now, to their 
old ally, France, and to the sympathy of the Emperor. 

The time for his mediation may sooner or later come, and great 
commercial advantages can be secured by France by holding, for the 
present, at least, aloof. 

It is stated that your government will allow the Southern privateers 
to run in for supplies, and remain with their prizes twenty-four hours 
in the French ports. This is very much to be regretted, and I hope, 
still, that the great powers of Europe will accept the adhesion of our 
government to the declarations of the Congress of Paris annulling priva- 
teering. All the maritime powers would then have outlawed that 
barbarous mode of warfare, and the ports of France would, of course, 
remain closed to Jeff. Davis's privateers. 

One of them was captured a few days ago by the United States 
brig Perr\\ and her crew are now in irons on board the United States 



54 '^*^ Baron James de Rothschild. 

steamer Minnesota. They will be tried as pirates, and if not hung, 
undoubtedly sentenced to hard labor. 

The evacuation of Harper's Ferry, which was, at first, construed 
into an attempted attack upon Washington, seems to have been forced 
upon the rebel troops, who were afraid of having their retreat cut ofF. 
They will now concentrate at Manassas Junction, hoping, probably, 
to get General Scott to attack them there, in the strong intrenchments 
which they have constructed. That veteran hero is, however, too 
wise to be led into such a mistake. He knows that they are short of 
provisions, that the place does not give them a sufficient supply of 
water, and that, consequently, they will soon be obliged to fall back 
toward Richmond. 

In the mean while the divisions under Generals McClellan and 
Patterson will come down from the West and Northwest and outflank 
them, unless they retreat. General Scott is confident of being in 
Richmond by the end of July. 

During my short visit to Washington I saw a good many of our 
officers and soldiers. The most excellent spirit pervades our whole 
army. Our troops in Virginia behave with exemplary order, and 
are gaining the good-will of the inhabitants by the respect they 
show for all public and private property. Their conduct stands in 
beautiful contrast with that of the secession troops, who have destroyed 
about two million dollars' worth of property around Harper's Ferry, 
and who compel the Virginia farmers to sell them provisions against 
valueless paper of the Confederacy. This state of things ought soon 
to produce a healthy reaction in the sentiments of the Virginia 
people. 

The election for Members of Congress in Maryland has resulted in 
the defeat of the whole secession ticket by handsome majorities, vet 
that State was claimed as hostile to the Union. 



To Baron LIONEL de ROTHSCHILD, 

London. 

New York, June i8, iS6i. 

While I was in Washington I had a two hours' interview with our 
Secretary of State. Mr. Seward is clear in the position which he has 
taken with reference to the rebellion and the attitude into which the 
recognition of the Southern Confederacy, by any European govern- 
ment, will place the United States. 

In that position the people will uphold our government at all 
hazards. There is no irritation of feeling on the part of the intelli- 
gent portion of our people against England, our papers, with one or 
two exceptions, treat the question very dispassionately, but there is a 
firm and unalterable determination not to alloiu a separation of this Union^ 
whatever blood and treasure it may cost to conquer a peace and a 
reconstruction of the Confederacy, 



To THE Hon. W. H. SEWARD, 

Secretary of State^ Washington^ D. C. 

Nf-vv York, June 24, 1861. 

My Dear Sir, — I beg to hand vou inclosed extract of a letter 
which I received this mornino; from England, and which was written 
after an interview with Lord John Russell. The feeling in England 
is evidently undergoing a revulsion in favor of the United States gov- 
ernment. 

I have also received letters from my friends in Paris of the same 
date. Baron Rothschild has had another interview with M. Thouve- 
nel and the Emperor. It is evident that the Minister thinks that the 
course of neutrality pursued by England and France will compel the 
contending parties in the United States to come to terms. 

The representatives of the two governments have, I fear, impressed 
their cabinets with a very erroneous notion of the relative strength of 
the North and South. 

The Emperor again expressed his earnest desire to see our troubles 
ended, and his willingness to seize any favorable opportunitv for media- 
tion, or to become otherwise instrumental in a peaceful settlement of 
the question. 

I intend to join my familv in Europe by the steamer of the ryth of 
next month, and shall visit London and Paris. If I can be of any 
service to you at either of those places, I beg you will freely dispose 
of me. Nothing would give me a more sincere gratification than to 
be of use to my government in its present emergency. 



To THE Hon. S. P. CHASE, 

Secretary of the Treasury^ IVashlngton^ D. C. 

New York, June 24, i86i. 

My Dear Sir, — A temporary absence from the citv prevented my 
replying, before to-day, to the inquiries contained in your esteemed 
letter. 

My opinion is, that with the present feeling of our people for a 
vigorous prosecution of the war, a national loan by subscription, in 
imitation of the plan of Louis Napoleon, would procure easily fifty 
millions of dollars to the government, provided the conditions of the 
subscription ofl^er sufficient advantages to the capitalists and moneyed 
institutions. I think that a seven per cent, stock, redeemable in 
twenty years, would bring out a good deal of money which now seeks 
investment, and the amount of which must increase dail)' by the stag- 
nation of trade. You are aware that the securities of the Federal 
government are now sold in the market at rates which give to the pur- 
chaser more than seven per cent, per annum. The five per cent, stock, 
redeemable in 1865 at par, can now be bought at eighty-six per cent., 
which gives about nine percent, per annum to the holder. As it cannot 
be the policy of the government to borrow money at a higher rate than 
seven per cent, per annum, it becomes, in my opinion, necessary to direct 
the special attention of capital to the new loan, by placing it on a more 
undoubted footing of security than the former Federal loans, and also 
by placing the finances in a position which would render it probable 
that, for some time to come, at least, no further loans would be 
required. I think the setting aside the proceeds of the public lands, 
or the intended duty on coffee, tea, and sugar, for the payment of the 
interest, and the ultimate redemption of the capital of the one hundred 
and fifty or two hundred millions, which the people are prepared the 
government will want for the war, would make the new loan a very 
desirable investment abroad and at home. In other words, a sinkmg 
fund should be established for the loan, either by the proceeds of the 



58 To Hon. S. P. Chase. 

public lands, the special duty on sugar, tea, and coffee, or an income 
tax. 

Experience has shown that the tariff passed by last Congress will 
not give any revenue. It wants very serious modifications before it 
can meet the requirements of government and stimulate our languish- 
ing foreign trade, and should, in my opinion, not bear an average of 
more than fifteen, or, at the outside, twenty per cent, upon any article 
of import. The revision of a tariff is, however, a very delicate ques- 
tion, interfering, as it does, with manifold interests all over the 
country, and would, in my opinion, require more time and a more 
dispassionate and careful discussion than can be expected for it during 
an extra session called in the present emergency. 

My conviction is that the most popular and practical mode of deal- 
ing with the question at this moment, would be for Congress simply 
to repeal the so-called Morrill tariff, and make the tariff of 1858 the 
law of the land, until, by the force of arms or by the action of a 
national convention, the peace and integrity of the country shall be 
again re-established. 

With the earnest desire of our people to support the national 
administration in the present struggle, I am confident that Congress 
will not only vote the sums for which you may call, but will also pass 
any financial measure, which you will recommend. 

My impression is, that Congress ought to give you authority to 
borrow in such sums and at such times as you may deem advisable, to 
the extent of two hundred millions of dollars, to be negotiated either 
here or in Europe, at the best rates obtainable. If you could get 
Congress not to limit the rate of interest or price of stock at all, it 
would, of course, be very desirable — in any event, it ought, however, 
not to be less than seven per cent, per annum, and your hands ought 
to be entirely free as to the mode and time of negotiation. 

A national subscription, if resorted to, ought to be opened for one 
month in all our large cities, in everv one of the loyal States of the 
Union ; amounts as low as one hundred dollars, or even fifty dollars, 
should be accepted, and bonds for those fractions, with semi-annual 
coupons attached, be issued to the successful bidders. All the sub- 
scriptions below five thousand dollars should be filled before the larger 
amounts are awarded, and those latter only supplied pro rata if more 
than the required amount should be subscribed. A deposit of five per 
cent, should accompany every subscription, or less, if adjudged advisa- 



To Hon. S. P. Chase. 



59 



ble. Special care should be taken that the papers in the interest of 
the government give every possible publicity to the subscription and 
to the advantages it would offer. There are immense sums in our 
savings banks, and large amounts which are now being invested in 
bonds and mortgages would be placed in a seven per cent. Federal 
loan, which is exempt from State and city taxation. 

Now, as regards a foreign loan, payable in pounds in London, and 
based, as regards sinking fund, etc., upon the same conditions, I think 
that, if negotiable at all.^ it can be done at more advantageous terms 
than here, money being cheaper on the other side than here. I place 
the proviso of its being negotiable at all in consequence of the evident 
desire of the English government and people to put a stop to the war 
by the withholding of aid to either side, and this may interfere with the 
placing of any large amount of Federal stock at this moment in 
P^ngland. 

I think, however, that this difficulty might be overcome, and that, 
under the auspices of some prominent and leading banking house, a very 
large amount of £ bonds, at six or six and a half per cent, per annum, 
principal and interest being payable in London, could be negotiated 
in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfort. The manner in 
which large loans for the Russian, Austrian, and Brazilian govern- 
ments have been negotiated in those places was generallv by way 
of subscriptions, opened under the auspices of leading bankers in 
their offices, and those of their agents, at the just-named places, the 
negotiating house generally taking, itself, a large amount at a fixed 
price, on its own account, and receiving a commission on the subscrip- 
tions which it procures. If by the time that the government wants to 
negotiate the loan our army has in any way been successful in Vir- 
ginia, I have very little doubt but what large sums could be borrowed 
at six per cent, on X bonds, and certainly at six and a half per cent., 
provided the right means and channels are used. 

This government has, since 1814, redeemed its three per cent, 
stock at par, and has bought up its five per cent, and six per cent, 
stock at high premiums before their maturity, and in case you resolve 
upon making an attempt abroad, it would be well to collect the statis- 
tics of these different redemptions. 

Besides the above two modes of raising the necessary funds, I think 
that the government could pav out to contractors for the War and 
Navy departments six per cent. Treasurv notes, having two years to 



63 ro Hon. S. P. Chase. 



run, and convertible within that period, at the option of the holder, into 
six per cent, stock having twenty vears to run. These Treasury 
notes, if issued in sums as low as Jjfty dollars^ or even tiventy dollars 
(the convertibility would, of course, only be extended to sums of fifty 
dollars and over), would soon form a circulation throughout the 
country, and as they would not be receivable in the pavment of duties 
before their maturity, I think that the government could easilv keep 
forty or fifty millions of dollars of these six per cent. Treasury notes 
in circulation. Mv opinion is, that by having recourse at the same 
time to the three modes of negotiation, the government will find no dif- 
ficulty in obtaining all the money it may require. 

I intend to join my family in Europe by the steamer which is to 
sail from this port on the 17th of July, to be absent about four or five 
months. If I can be of any use to you or the government, either in 
London or on the Continent, I shall be very happy, and I beg you 
will dispose freely of my services. My friend and partner, Mr. Charles 
Christmas, who remains at the head of my house here during my 
absence, will at all times be able to give you the news of mv where- 
abouts, and can also communicate to vou the phases of the European 
money-markets, and any other information which may be of interest to 
you. 



[T7-a72slation.~\ 

To Baron JAMES de ROTHSCHILD, 

Paris. 

New York, June 25, 1S61. 

Dear Baron, — By the letter of your son Alphonse, I see, with 
pleasure, the steps which you have taken near M. Thouvenel and also 
near the Emperor, in order to obtain, if possible, the important media- 
tion of France in our unfortunate troubles. 

Though now in the storm of passions, the time for this has not yet 
come, it is not improbable that sooner or later it may be reserved to 
the Emperor to put an end to our civil war, and to restore peace and 
prosperity to this country. 

Unfortunately, the proclamation of neutrality by your government, 
published in the Mon'iteur of the ist inst., by which France assimilates 
her policy toward this country entirely to that of England, has pro- 
duced a very unfavorable impression here. We had hoped that the 
strong government of the Emperor would throw its moral support into 
the scale of our legitimate government, the Union, and the law, and 
would not be misled by the cotton policy of England into a quasi 
recognition of the rebels. 

Our government has given its consent to the abolition of letters of 
marque, so that now every maritime power has acceded to the stipu- 
lations of the Congress of Paris. Why, therefore, allow to a revolted 
portion of the United States to harass the commerce of the world by 
its privateers, and why allow them even the refuge of twenty-lour 
hours in the ports of France ? 

As I had already the honor to write to you heretofore, if France 
and England will respect our blockade, and not allow the privateers of 
Jefferson Davis to seek refuge in any of their ports, the North will 
soon be able to bring the Secessionists back to their allegiance. 

A different policy, which gives to the South the hope of recognition 



62 To Bcrran James de Rothschild. 



by the great powers of Europe, must prolong the struggle and its bane- 
ful consequences upon the prosperity of the world. 

The United States cannot, and never will consent to a separation. 
I fear that M. Mercier. as well as a certain M. Baroche, son of the 
ex-Minister of Finance, who is visiting this country in a semi-official 
capacity, ha\e, in their reports from Washington and the South, given 
a very erroneous impression to the French government as regards the 
resources ot the South. 

Nobody who watches our unhappy situation, without prejudice and 
on the spot itself, can doubt for one moment that the victory must be 
with the North and the Union. Even at the South many people are 
becoming convinced of this by degrees, and I hear that emissaries of 
the Southern leaders are beginning to talk of compromise and con- 
cessions — for these, however, the time has, unfortunately, not yet 
arrived. 

I have written to your house, by one of the last steamers, in regard 
to the loans to be negotiated by the United States in the course of the 
next months. 

Congress will assemble on the 4th of July, and will doubtless author- 
ize t^e Secretary of the Treasury to raise one hundred and fifty millions 
of dollars by a loan. It is not yet known in what manner this loan is 
to be negotiated. 



To THE Hon. WM. H. SEWARD, 
IVashington^ D. C. 

London, July 30, 1861. 

My Dear Sir, — I arrived here the day before yesterday, and 
through the kindness of a mutual friend had an interview of an hour's 
duration, last evening, with Lord Palmerston, in one of the private 
galleries of the House of Commons. The length to which his lord- 
ship allowed our interview to be prolonged, and the many interroga- 
tories which he put to me, are a striking evidence of the deep interest 
with which the government watches the progress of events in our 
country. 

Lord Palmerston, after asking me a number of questions about 
our army and navv, the feeling at the North, etc., wanted also to 
know whether the feeling of anger and irritation manifested by our 
people against England for her position of neutrality was still as violent 
as ever when I left. 

I told him that there was no feeling of hostility in the United States 
against England, but that throughout all classes of people at the North 
we felt deeply mortified and disappointed when the proclamation of 
the Queen revealed to us the fact that the people of the United States 
had not to expect any sympathy on the part of the British government 
in their struggle for national existence against a rebellious slave oligar- 
chy ; I dwelt upon the criminality, unjustifiability, and lawlessness of 
that rebellion, and compared the tone of the English government and 
press with the expression of heartfelt sympathy which came across the 
Atlantic, from the whole American people, at the time of the re- 
bellion in India. 

His Lordship listened with earnest attention to my remarks, and 
said that the British government, by its strict neutrality, did not do 
any more than what we had done when we would not permit them to 
enlist a few men in the States during the Crimean war. In the 
course of the conversation he used this phrase, " We do not like 



64 ^0 Hon. W. H. Sezvard. 

slavery, but we want cotton, and we dislike very much vour Morrill 
tariff." 

I think this phrase comprises the whole policv of this government 
in the present war, and from what I have seen and heard since mv 
arrival, I am more than ever convinced that we have nothing to hope 
from the sympathy of the English government and people in our 
struggle. Because this war is not carried on for the abolition or 
slavery in the Southern States, they try to maintain that the war has 
nothing to do with slavery: wilfully shutting their eyes to the fact 
that the attitude of the North with regard to introducing slaxery into 
the Territories is the main ground upon which the Secessionists justify 
their action. As a distinguished lady, wife of a prominent liberal in 
Parliament, told me last evening : " I am sorry to say, we have been 
found wanting in the present emergency, and principles have to yield 
to interest." 

The news of the patriotic action of Congress, by voting large sup- 
plies of men and money, and the successes of General McClellan, 
have evidently startled people a good deal. Lord Palmerston was 
very minute in his inquiries on all these points. He also asked what 
it meant that Congress had passed a law closing the Southern ports, 
and whether this act of Congress was to stand in lieu of the blockade, 
which was thus to be given up. 

I gave him my individual views on this question, stating that I 
thouo;ht this action was only taken in order to give additional force 
and Constitutionality to the blockade, and to meet objections which 
might be raised against the government blockading its own ports, and 
as such the United States considered every port in the seceded States. 

He then asked me what was the meaning of the law just passed by 
Congress, authorizing the appointment of collectors in the Southern 
ports for receiving custom-duties on board of vessels of war, to be 
stationed at the entrance of the respective ports — that he could not un- 
derstand how, on one hand, a port could be blockaded, and on the 
other hand, ships be allowed to enter upon paying customs, maintain- 
ing that this was xirtually doing away with the blockade. 

I replied that I thought the passage of this act was only intended to 
be authoritative, but not mandatory, upon the executive, and that Con- 
gress wanted to give to the President e\ery possible Constitutional 
power, in order to be prepared for every emergency. That so far 
from intending to relinquish the blockade of the seceded ports, no 



ro Ho,;. If. H. Scicunl. 65 

efforts would be spared in order to make it respected and effec- 
tive. 

I mention all these remarks and objections in order to show you 
how every excuse will be seized by this government in order to break 
through our blockade, and I know that under the influence of Mr. 
Mercier's dispatches to his government, we have nothing better to 
hope from France. I understand that both governments have written 
to their ministers at Washington, more than a week ago, that they 
will not allow French and English vessels to be overhauled on the 
high seas by our blockading squadron, on account of being suspected 
of having run the blockade, or carried contraband of war. 

Lord Palmerston asked me what our manufacturers and spinners in 
New England would do for their supply of cotton, and how they were 
situated at present. I told him that by working short time I thought 
they would have cotton enough to last them until next spring, and 
that they were all for a strong, vigorous prosecution of the war, con- 
vinced that this was the only way in order to get the required supply 
by next spring. 

He asked me, also, where our government intended to raise the 
large amounts voted by Congress for the prosecution of the war. I 
told him that I had no knowledge of the intentions of the Secretary of 
the Treasury, but I supposed he would negotiate his loans wherever 
he could make the most advantageous terms, that undoubtedly a large 
portion, if not the whole, would be taken by our people at home, the 
stagnation of trade ha\ing thrown a good deal of idle capital upon the 
market. I purposely conveyed the idea that we did not look for the 
probability of negotiating any large loan in England at present, because, 
since my arrival, the English papers have talked a good deal about my 
having come over for the purpose of raising money here. 

I shall also shorten my visit here for the present, and intend to leave 
this evening for Paris and Germany. If I have a chance in Paris to 
see any of the Emperor's cabinet, I shall do so, and shall not fail to 
write to you should any thing of interest come to my knowledge. I 
hope that by the time this reaches you our troops have been victorious 
in Virginia — one or two battles now will very soon change the tone 
and feeline of our Enslish cousins. 



To THURLOW WEED, 

Albany, N. T. 

Newport, R. I., July 20, 1862. 

A4y Dear AIr. Weed, — I have made several attempts to see you 
during your fleeting visits to New York, but have not been so fortu- 
nate as to find you in. 

Our national affairs are in a most critical position, more so than thev 
have been at anv time since the beginning of this unfortunate war. 

What frightens me more than the disasters in the field, is the 
apathy and distrust which I grieve to sav I meet at every step, even 
from men of standing, and hitherto of undoubted loyalty to the 
Union. 

You know my own feelings and convictions on the subject of our 
national troubles, and I am sure I can speak to you in all candor, with- 
out the fear of having my thoughts misconstrued, though vou may, 
perhaps, not share my views. 

My firm conviction is, that any other solution to our present diffi- 
culties than a reconstruction of but one government overall the States 
of our confederacy would entail upon us and our children an inherit- 
ance of the most fearful consequences, which would end in the utter 
disintegration and ruin of the whole country. 

There are only two modes by which to prevent such a calamity, 
which is certainly, at this moment, more threatening than it has ever 
been before. Tl^he one is, by an energetic and unrelenting prosecu- 
tion of the war to crush the rebellion ; the other would be to negotiate 
with the leaders of that rebellion (to which it would be madness to 
withhold the character of a gigantic revolution) and to see whether it 
may not yet be possible to re-establish a Federal Union. 

Both alternatives present difficulties of the gravest nature, and which 
they did not possess in the same degree at the beginning of the 
contest. 

Our army has been decimated by disease and the casualties of war. 



To Th/rlozv PVeed. 67 

I am informed from reliable sources that McClellan has barely seventy 
thousand men, all told, and Pope's army, including the corps of Mc- 
Dowell, Sigel, and Banks, is said to number barely forty thousand 
men. What can we expect to do with such a force against Richmond, 
which is defended by an enemy having probably double that number 
under arms, flushed with recent successes, commanded by generals at 
least equal to ours, directed by one master-spirit, and occupying a 
central position in a country hostile to us ? 

It is true the President has called out three hundred thousand men, 
but it would be a fatal delusion to believe that this number would be 
sufficient to crush the enemy, even if it were sure that, under the 
present svstem of volunteers, the men would come forward. 

I think I make a liberal estimate if I put the figure of the Federal 
armies, all told, at four hundred thousand effective men, and this num- 
ber will be reduced to at least three hundred thousand before the new 
levies can be brought into the field. 

When we stopped recruiting in the midst of our successes, we dealt 
a fatal blow to our army, and it is really a wonder to me that our com- 
manding generals consented to submit to such a measure, which 
crippled them at a time when an overwhelming force became neces- 
sary to finish up the good work. It was a policy hardly less suicidal 
than if we had stopped sending supplies and ammunition to our men in 
the field. Where we would have found last winter ten men eager to 
enlist, anxious to share in our triumphs, we will scarcely now find 
one, so deep is the gloom and distrust which has taken hold of our 
people. It would be worse than folly to shut our eves to this fact. 
I think ours is the first instance in history where a government shut 
off supplies of men in the midst of a gigantic war. Look at England. 
Her enlistments in the Crimean war lasted until the very day of the 
conclusion of peace. 

There is only one way to remedy our fatal error, that is, for the 
President at once to establish a system of conscription, by which, in- 
stead of three hundred thousand, at least five hundred thousayid men 
should be called under arms. 

A straightforward proclamation of the President, setting forth the 
necessities of the case and appealing to the patriotism of the people, 
will give more confidence than all the ill-concealed attempts at palliat- 
ing our desperate condition. 

Instead of levying new regiments, commanded by inexperienced 



68 To Th/r/ozc /Teed. 



officers of their own choosing, and who, for a year to come, would 
barely add any thing to our efficiency in the field, the raw recruits 
ought to be collected at camps of instruction, in healthy localities, 
East and West, where, under the direction of ITest Point graduates^ 
they should be drilled and disciplined. 

From thence, as thev are fit for active service, thev should be fur- 
nished to the army to be incorporated into the old regiments, without 
reference to States., and only ivhere they are most needed. This is the 
only way to create for this war an efficient United States army., and 
will strike a severe blow to that fatal heresy (State sovereignty and 
State pride) which lies at the bottom of all our misfortunes. Besides, 
such a mode would be infinitely more economical, and the raw recruits, 
mixed with our old soldiers, would be, of course, much more reliable 
and steady under the enemy's fire than in separate regiments commanded 
by officers just as inexperienced as themselves. 

Simultaneously with these measures, which ought to be taken with 
the utmost vigor and dispatch, we must infuse more life and energy in 
our naval department. 

The fact is, we have made a great mistake to undertake a war on a 
gigantic scale by land, where our opponents are, at least, nearly as 
strong as we are, instead oi throwing our best resources and energies 
upon that mode of warfare where we could have had the enemy at our 
mercy. Had we, at the very outset of the rebellion, ordered fifty iron 
gun-boats, even at a cost of one million dollars apiece, we should, before 
last January, have been in possession of every Southern port. With 
two hundred thousand men we could have held, by land, the line of 
the Potomac, Missouri, and Tennessee, and thus hemmed in, we 
would have brought the South to terms, just as Russia had to sue for 
peace after the fall of Sebastopol. 

I think it is still in our power to accomplish this, though the task 
has become more difficult since Charleston, Savannah, and Mobile 
have been so strongly fortified during the last six months. No time, 
money, and eff'orts should be spared to build at least twenty more large 
new iron steamships, with which to take and hold every important city 
on the rebel coast, from North Carolina to Texas. 

If authority for all these measures is not vested in the President, he 
ought at once to call an extra session of Congress. 

I have thus far given you my views of the steps which I consider 
indispensable, it the sword is to be the arbiter of our future, but is 



To Tlu/iiow IVced. 69 



there no other way of saving our country from all the horrors and 
calamities which even a successful war must entail upon us ? 

It may appear almost hopeless to attempt to bring the South back 
to the Union by negotiation. Men and women alike, in that distracted 
portion of our country, have become frantic and exasperated by the 
teachings of unprincipled leaders and the miseries of civil war. Still, 
I cannot bring myself to the belief that the door to a reconciliation 
between the two sections is irrevocably and forever shut. The losses 
and sufferings which have befallen us have been felt tenfold in the 
revolted States, and the thinking men of the South must see that a 
continuation of the war must end in the utter destruction of their prop- 
erty and institutions. The frightful carnage of many a battle-field 
must have convinced each section of the bravery of its opponents, and 
how much better it would be to have them as friends than foes. 

While I am convinced that the President would be willing to see 
the South in the lawful possession of all its Constitutional rights, I 
have not lost all hope, that with these rights guaranteed, a re-union of 
the two sections miglK be accomplished. In any event, it seems to 
me that an attempt at negotiation should be made, and that the time 
for it has not entirely passed away. 

If one or two conservative men, who, without holding any official 
position, possess influence and weight enough with our people and the 
government to inspire confidence in their statements to the leading 
men of the South could be found, to proceed under the authority, or 
at least with the knowledge of the President, to Richmond, in order 
to open negotiations, I think success might crown their efforts. 

It is impossible, and would be presumptuous in me, to point out 
the conditions of such a compromise, but I think that propositions would 
prove acceptable to the South which contained in their general outline 
an amnesty for all political offences during the war, and the calling of 
a national convention for the purpose of reconstructing the Federal 
compact, with such modifications in the Constitution as our late sad 
experience has demonstrated to have become necessary. 

The war debts of the North and South might either be borne by 
each respective section, or better, be funded and assumed by the 
general government. The Monroe Doctrine to be strictly and uncom- 
promisingly enforced, which would require and justify a larger standing 
national army and nayy than heretofore, thus giving us a chance to 
make provisions for such of their military leaders who, repenting their 



T 



To Thurlow Weed. 



past errors, are willing again to serve that flag to which, as friends and 
as foes, thev owe all the distinction they have ever achieved. 

I know that some of these concessions will be verv distasteful to 
our people — they can be to no one more so than to myself. Every 
sacrifice must, however, be brought at the altar of our country when 
we can restore it to peace and prosperity, and with our blood and 
with our treasure we must also be ready to yield our prejudices, and 
even our convictions. 

I firmly believe that the President would find the hearty support of 
the vast majority of our people in such a policy, and he ought not to 
lose any time in carrying out these views. Such men, for instance, as 
yourself and Governor H. Seymour, would soon be able to find out 
whether the men who are guiding the destinies of the South could be 
brought to listen to the dictates of reason and moderation. 

Before we enter upon a new phase in this terrible war, which must 
carry with it horror and misery^ far greater than what we have wit- 
nessed yet, I cannot but think that patriotism and humanity alike call 
for an earnest effort toward reconciliation and peace. 

If our offers should be rejected, we shall stand justified before God 
and men, and our good cause will have His blessing and the world's 
sympathy. 



To His Excellency, President LINCOLN. 

New York, August lo, 1862. 

My Dear Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
your esteemed favor. Its contents bear the stamp of that statesman- 
ship and patriotism which I know to have guided all your actions in 
the trials which this wicked rebellion has brought upon our once so 
happy country. 

I share entirely your views with regard not only to the duty, but also 
the policy of the revolted States to return to their allegiance without 
allowing their unequal struggle against the power of the United States 
to increase in violence and exasperation, as it necessarily must. Still 
I think that we might, perhaps, find means to remove the difficulties 
which the miseries of civil war and the terrorism conjured up by the 
leaders of the rebellion, have placed in the way of conservative men, 
Vv'ho otherwise would most gladly return to the Union. 

The words cojiquest and subjugation have been used to good effect by 
our opponents. They are words repugnant to the American ear, and 
while the rebel leaders can keep up to their misguided followers the 
idea that the North means conquest and subjugation, I fear that there 
is very little hope for any Union demonstration in the revolted States, 
however great the dissatisfaction against the Richmond government 
might be. 

My own conviction has always been, that sooner or later we would 
have to come to a national convention for the reconstruction of one 
government over all the States. I cannot see by what other means, 
even after a complete defeat of the rebel armies, a restoration of the 
Union can be effected. 

My impression is, that such a solution would, at the proper time, 
be acceptable to the majority of the Southern people, and I sent to 
Mr. Weed the letter which procured me the honor of recei\'ing your 
note, for the very reason that I saw in it an indication of the writer's 
desire for a reconstruction of the Union. He is a very wealthy and 



72 To President Lincoln. 



influential planter, and I have every reason to believe that a large 
number of his class share his views. 

A few weeks ago, and previous to the receipt of that letter, I had 
written to Mr. Weed, giving him mv candid views on our present 
situation and the means which I thought the government ought to 
adopt. I do not know whether he communicated to you my letter, 
but as you have been kind enough to evince a flattering; confidence in 
the earnestness of my intentions, which must plead for the shortcom- 
ing of my judgment, I take the liberty of inclosing you herewith a 
copy of my letter to Mr. Weed, hoping that you may deem it worthy 
of your perusal. 

The present moment may, perhaps, not be a propitious one for car- 
rying on a negotiation in the manner in which I suggest. As soon, 
however, as we shall have again a large army in the field, such as we 
are sure to have under your energetic measures for recruiting, then I 
hope that you may find in your wisdom the means of opening negotia- 
tions with our misguided fellow-citizens of the South. 

They must become convinced that we are fighting only for the Union^ 
and that we cannot, in our own self-defence, as a nation, admit any 
other solution but the Union. I am certain that ere long reason must 
prevail over sectional passion, provided that your strong hand will 
equally crush the Secessionists of the South and the fanatical disorgan- 
izers of the North, who are both equally dangerous to the country and 
its institutions. 



To Baron LIONEL de ROTHSCHILD, 

London. 

New York, November 25, 1862. 

The Arabia's news from Liverpool to the i6th inst. is telegraphed 
from Cape Race, giving us the outline of M. Drouyn de I'Huys' circular 
on mediation, and the reply of Lord Russell, declining for the present 
to join in any overtures of that nature to our government. 

The course pursued by your government is the only wise and politic 
one at this moment, and it is to be regretted that the French cabinet 
should have adopted this public mode of calling upon the European 
governments to interfere in our affairs. It has the appearance of a 
determination to force mediation upon the American government and 
people whether they want it or not. This will, I fear, produce a bad 
effect, and make mediation very unacceptable hereafter. 

From the tenor of the European advices in general, it is evident 
that there exists a misapprehension, both in England and France, with 
regard to the intentions of the conservative party of the North, which 
has just carried the elections. 

This party, while opposed to the ultra and arbitrary spirit of the 
administration, and while willing to secure to the South her rights 
guaranteed bv the Constitution, within the Uniou^ will not accept of 
any compromise which has not the reconstruction of but one govern- 
ment over all the thirty-four States for its basis. I have seen Gov- 
ernor Seymour, and manv of the leaders of the Democratic party, and 
I am sure that this is the general programme laid down as the guide of 
their future action. 

A national convention for the purpose of modifying our Constitu- 
tion, in order to take away from the ultra men, South and North, the 
power of future mischief, and bv a better defined limitation of Federal 
and State power, prevent the re-occurrence of the calamities which 
have now befallen us, can alone restore lasting peace and prosperity to 

10 



74 '^^ Baron Lionel rlc Rotltsrh/Id. 



this country. Toward such a result the efforts of mediation of friendly 
powers might be directed — any other solution is impossible. 



Under the same date, a letter to the same purpose was written to Baron James 
de Rothschild of Paris. 



To Colonel E. G. W. BUTLER, 

New Orleans^ La. 

New York, December 6, 1862. 

My Dear Sir, — Our mutual friend, Mr. Butler Duncan, has given 
me your kind message contained in your recent letter to him. 

Allow me to thank you most cordially for it in Mrs. Belmont's name 
and my own, and to assure you that it was very grateful to our feel- 
ings to hear that your lamented son remembered us kindly before his 
sad and premature death. These sentiments were most sincerely 
reciprocated by us. 

We sympathize deeply with your bereavement, the extent of which 
we can fully appreciate by the rare qualities of heart and mind of the 
deceased which have endeared him to all who knew him. 

I unite my prayers with yours, that it may please the Almighty to 
put a stop to this fratricidal war, which has desolated our once so 
happy country for the last eighteen months. 

Unfortunately, designing and selfish politicians have, in both sections 
of the country, been allowed to falsify public opinion. I know 
that the vast majority of the Northern people are not Abolition- 
ists, and that they are willing and ready to secure to the South all 
her Constitutional rights zuithin the Union^ under a most liberal con- 
struction. Our recent elections are a clear evidence or this, and I 
hope that the conservative men of the South will so view it. To a 
separation they will never consent, because they feel that a separation 
does not mean the formation of two powerful confederacies living along- 
side each other in peace and amity, but that it would be followed ere 
long by a total disintegration, and by the creation of half a dozen 
republics, swayed by military despotism, and soon destined to the same 
fate as Mexico and Central America. 

One has only to look at the map of what two years ago con- 
stituted the United States, then the happiest and most prosperous 



76 -To Colonel E. G. IV. Butler. 



country on the face of the globe, in order to be convinced of the utter 
impossibiHtv of a separation. 

It is true the war which has been raging with so much fury on both 
sides, has inflicted much woe and suffering both North and South. 
Nobody deplores this more deeply than I do, and nobody worked 
harder to avert it. 

Cannot the conservative men in both sections prevent a further 
duration of all this misery ? There have been faults and errors on 
both sides, and the bitter fruits which they have borne are a sure guar- 
anty against their recurrence. 

Both sides have been taught to appreciate each other's patriotism, 
endurance, and courage. With all its miseries, this war has revealed 
to us and to the world the immense power and the inexhaustible 
resources of our country. We could, if reunited, confidently look 
forward to a destiny as a nation such as history has not yet witnessed 
and the brightness of which dazzles the wildest imagination. 

And is all this to be sacrificed to sectional passion and prejudice, 
fanned by designing politicians for their own selfish ends ! 

Excuse me, I pray, for having allowed myself to be carried away 
on this topic, but I feel so deeply for our common country that I could 
not resist the impulse. 



To Baron LIONEL dk ROTHSCHILD, M. P., 

London. 

New York, April 3, 1863. 

My Dear Baron, — During my visit to Cuba I was very sorry to 
see the open aid and sympathy shown by the British Vice-Consul and 
other officials ot Her Majesty at Havana to the rebel cause. 

Young Crawford, who acts as Vice-Consul during the absence ot 
his father, the British Consul-General, expresses himself not only at 
all times openly in favor of the rebels, but he is known to be himself 
actively engaged in carrying on a contraband trade with the South, 
and is said to have made a good deal of money by running the 
blockade. 

Nearly all the vessels which run between Havana and the blockaded 
ports, are flying the English colors when they enter port, though being 
mostly small fishing smacks and schooners, they are undoubtedly 
owned at the South. 

It is known that Crawford uses his official position to place these 
vessels under the British flag. 

While I was at Havana, Mr. Helm, the Southern agent and com- 
missioner, though in no official manner recognized by the Spanish 
government, gave a ball, and the captain of the British war steamer 
hnmortality., Mr. Hancock, did not only attend with his whole 
staff", but he also sent his military band, which played during the whole 
evening. The room was decorated with the Confederate flag, and 
the musical performances, by a band of a British man-of-war, wearing 
Her Majesty's uniform, began by the rebel air of Dixie. 

There was hardly anybody present except Southerners, the officers 
of the hnmortality., and the British Vice-Consul, with some of his 
friends, the Cubans not dancing during Lent. 

Apart from the questionable taste of such proceedings, there cannot 
be any doubt of their being in direct violation of the Queen's procla- 
mation of neutrality. 



78 I'o Euro;; Lionel de RothschihJ, M. P. 

They are not at ail in accordance with the position assumed dur- 
ing this struggle by Her Majesty's government, and must meet with 
the disapproval of your ministry. 

I hope you may have an opportunity to direct the attention of 
Lord Palmerston or Russell, to these facts, for the veracity of which 
I can vouch. They are calculated to produce a very bitter feeling 
among our people, while I am sure that the best interests of both gov- 
ernments call for a mutually kind and friendly policy, so ardently 
desired by all well-thinking men on both sides of the Atlantic. 

We have nothing new in a military point of view, but it is generally 
believed that the attack on Charleston is near at hand, and it is hoped 
that it will be successful. 

I find, on my return, a feeling for a vigorous prosecution of the war 
stronger than ever, and a complete unanimity of feeling against foreign 
intervention and any peace except upon the basis of a reconstruction 
of the Union. 

The violent language of Jefferson Davis and his organs has pro- 
duced quite a reaction at the North, and has silenced entirely the {^^ 
peace-at-any-price men, who had sprung up after the elections of last 
November. 



To Baron LIONEL de ROTHSCHILD, M. P., 

London. 

New York, April 14, 1S63. 

Dear Baron, — I have read with great interest the admirable 
speech of Lord Russell, which vou sent me by your letter of 24th 
uit. The policy of neutrality and non-intervention is certainly now 
the only true and just one. 1 hope that your government will not 
only continue to proclai?n it, but will also prevent more effectually than 
heretofore, its violations by its subjects and its officials. 

Lord Russell's speech would have had an excellent effect here, but 
unfortunately the same steamer brought out the speeches of Lord 
Palmerston and the Solicitor-General, of the 27th ult., which breathe 
such an unkind and unfriendly spirit against the American people, 
that they will more than counterbalance the fair and honorable lan- 
guage of your Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

Lord Palmerston's speech, particularly, is a most extraordinary 
exhibition, and contains principles and assertions which it will be im- 
possible even for that distinguished statesman to sustain. He says 
that the British cabinet could not act against the Alabama upon 
the mere complaint and statement of Mr. Adams, and that unless 
evidence under oath was produced by the latter, the authorities would 
not have been justified in retaining her. 

How could Mr. Adams furnish evidence, which it was the duty of 
the Crown officials to procure, through their police and courts of justice, 
after their attention had been called to the intended violation of the 
law of the land ? 

When, in 1855, ^^^ British Consul gave notice here, to our govern- 
ment, that the bark Maury.^ owned by one of our most respectable 
houses, was being fitted out as a privateer to cruise under the Russian 
flag, she was, on that mere suspicion, at once libelled by the United 
States authorities, and was not released until it was satisfactorily 
proved that she was not intended for such a purpose. This was done 



8o To Bi/ro/i Uoncl dc Rothschild^ M. F. 

at a time when the Enghsh government had numerous contracts in 
this country for the manufacture of Enfield rifles, and when our vessels 
were carrying troops and ammunition from English and French ports 
to the Crimea. 

The selling of arms and the running of blockade by individuals is 
certainly a very different thing from the fitting out of ships of war and 
privateers, and while we can only regret the first, and take our mea- 
sures against them, we have certainlv a right to expect that a friendly 
power will protect us against the other. 

The Jlabama has been fitted out in an English port to prey upon 
our commerce, she forfeited her bond, or, in other words, the builders 
evaded the law by sacrificing their bail. Does this change the 
offence ? Only three months ago the British Consul has asserted in 
mv presence that the Alabama^ having forfeited her bail, would be 
seized in any English port she should enter, and I naturally inferred 
from this that orders to that effect had gone to the different stations. 
Yet she has, since that time, been received, provisioned, and feted in 
Kingston, and, for all I know, other ports of the British West Indies ! 
She is now preying upon our commerce, and is recognized bv your 
officials as a Confederate war vessel, though she has never as vet 
entered a Confederate port, and though the greater portion, if not all 
of her crew, are English subjects and foreigners. 

How does the case and the attitude ot the British government com- 
pare with the conduct of George Washington, immediately after the 
peace of the Revolutionary war. 

The French republic, counting upon the sympathy of a young 
nation, the liberty of which they had just assisted to conquer, sent 
agents out here for the fitting out of privateers to prcv upon British 
commerce. Washington not only took at once the most energetic 
steps against the violation of our neutrality, and seized the ves- 
sels in port, but he also indemnified British subjects for the losses sus- 
tained by the few privateers which had inanaged to escape. It is really 
inconceivable to see your leading statesmen make an assertion like the 
one made in the same speech by Lord Palmerston, viz., that British 
subjects had been seized and compelled to serve in this war against 
their will. It must be known to every child that such could not be 
the case, as no conscription has as yet taken place at the North, and 
it is further well known to the British Minister that it was orilx in the 
Southern States that Englishmen had been impressed into the service. 



■To Iniro/i Lionel dc Rotlischihl^ M. i\ gi 



Lord Palmerston, as the head of the British cabinet, evinces in his 
speech a feeling of unfriendliness which will go far to bring about the 
most deplorable consequences, because I can assure you, that if your 
government is determined to allow the delivery and sailing of the war 
vessels destined for the Confederates, there will be reprisals^ and I fear 
war. Our government does not wish it, and a member of the cabinet 
made a very strong speech here, on Saturday, against a war with 
England, but the irritation produced by the action of your officials has 
gained even the more influential and moderate leading men. Lord 
Russell says, at the conclusion of his speech, that he hopes England 
will never interfere except " in the cause of liberty., and to promote the 
freedom of mankind.''' It would be well if England had acted upon this 
doctrine in the present contest. She would have secured forever the 
abolition of slavery throughout the world, while now she is assisting 
in riveting the fetters of the poor African for another century. 

While in Cuba, I found all the Creole planters in favor of the South, 
and they based their partiality on the ground that, if the North suc- 
ceed, slavery would be abolished in the United States, and then, of 
course, they would be compelled to emancipate their slaves also. 

Let your statesmen and Southern sympathizers go to Cuba and see 
the fearful barbarity and misery of slavery there, and I fear they would 
find it more difficult to satisfy their conscience as easily as they seem 
to do their constituents for the course they have pursued toward our 
people in our hour of trouble. 

I am glad to hear from you, that you have not taken any interest in 
the Confederate loan. It is a most reckless speculation, and I do not 
believe that the first dollar will ever be paid on it. The letter in the 
London Times., denying that Jefferson Davis was a leading advocate of 
repudiation in his State of Mississippi, is the most barefaced false- 
hood imaginable. Jeff. Davis ran for State Senator., for Governor., and 
for United States Senator., upon the distinct issue of repudiating the 
bonds of the State of Mississippi, issued to the banks, and sold by 
them to the United States Bank. 

These gentlemen are bold and unscrupulous in their assertions to 
the British public, because they know that they are preaching to will- 
ing ears. 

Only a few months ago Yancey, one of their Commissioners, de- 
clared at a public dinner in London, that he was opposed to the Afri- 
can Slave Trade. Well, in 1856 he made one of his most powerful 
ii 



82 'To Barofi Lionel dc Rothschild, M. P. 

speeches, at a Southern Convention, in favor of that nefarious traffic, 
and appealing to the passions of his people, avowed alreadv then, that 
the refusal of the Federal government to repeal the law of 1 808 against 
the slave trade, was in itself a sufficient ground for the South to sepa- 
rate from the Union. 

I am very much afraid that public opinion is so much roused against 
us that nothing will change the action of your government and people. 
On the other hand, demagogues will do their utmost to increase the 
irritation produced by the direct aid given by England and the English 
to the rebels. 

The consequences which must arise from such a state of things can 
only be averted by great moderation and a cordial interchange of views 
on the part of the two governments. 



To Lord ROKEBY, Lieut. -General, B. A., 
Montague House ^ London. 

New York, May 7, 1863. 

My Dear General, — We returned from Havana a few weeks 

ago, when I found your very kind letter. I am deligiited to hear that 

you and yours continue to enjoy excellent health, and that you have 

passed a very pleasant winter in your family circle, notwithstanding 

that general society in Nice had not been on the same agreeable and 

cordial footing as the winter before. One hardly ever finds the same 

social resources two consecutive seasons at a small place of resort, and 

then the impetuous '•'■ Prefette" was sure, sooner or later, to conjure up 

a storm. She has entirely too much electricity to allow continued 

sunshine around her. 

-X- vv -;v ii * * -:v 

While I am morally convinced that our government, as well as the 
vast majority of our people, look upon a war with England as a tear- 
ful calamity, I must confess that the events of the last 'icw months, 
and the tone of your leading papers, have filled me with the most 
gloomy apprehensions for the future. 

The fitting out of armed war vessels, like the Alabama.^ Florida .,2inA 
Virginia^ in your ports, in open violation of the Queen's proclamation 
and the foreign enlistment act, have produced a most paintul feeling 
here, and I am afraid that it will require the greatest moderation and 
the most cordial understanding between the two o-overnments to pre- 
vent complications of the gravest nature. I know that Mr. Lir.coln, 
as well as his Secretary of State, are very desirous to maintain the 
most friendly relations with England, and I trust that they will be met 
by your ministers in the same spirit. 

Ten days ago an intimate friend of Mr. Seward, and one of our 
most prominent and respected members of the bar, Mr. Evarts, went 
out to England on a semi-official mission from our government. He 
is to assist Mr. Adams in his endeavors to come to a more definite 



84 To Lord Rokcb)\ hicut.-Gcneral^ B. ji. 



and friendly understanding about the fitting out of privateers and other 
knotty questions, and I have the best hopes of his mission. I know 
him to be a very intelligent, upright, and well-disposed man. 

I have taken the liberty of giving him a letter of introduction to 
you, being sure that you will gladlv contribute, bv your influence, to 
aid the good cause of peace and good-will between two kindred nations. 

Mr. Evarts is an extremely well-informed man, and I am sure that 
you will derive pleasure and much valuable information in regard to 
our affairs from his acquaintance. You will oblige me, personally, very 
much, by extending that kindness and urbanity to him which I have 
received at your hands and which I value so much. 

The newspapers give you detailed accounts of our present military 
position. I can safely say that our cause in the Southwest looks more 
favorable and hopeful than it has for many days past. 

The successes of General Banks in Louisiana have placed the most 
fertile part of that State under Federal control. I have every reason 
to hope that we shall soon hold the Mississippi and compel the Con- 
federates to evacuate Vicksburo;. 

The hopes of the whole nation are at this moment centred upon 
the army under Hooker, who has crossed the Rappahannock with his 
entire force, and is probably at this moment engaged in battle with the 
enemy. He has one hundred and forty thousand men under him, his 
army is in excellent condition, and his friends are very sanguine of suc- 
cess. God grant that these expectations may be realized. 

In the stress in which the rebels are for food and all the necessaries 
of life, a signal defeat of their main army may bring us to an end of 
the war, by the re-establishment of the Federal authority over the old 
Union. On the other hand, a defeat of our army will only prolong 
the strife. The people of the North have never been so determined 
as they are now to carry on the war until the integrity of the govern- 
ment is re-established. 

In this regard a most decided change has taken place, even among 
the ultra opponents of the administration. The men who were will- 
ing to purchase peace even at the surrender of our nationality, and 
whose number and influence were increasing last autumn and winter 
bv the mismanagement of the Washington cabinet, have been entirely 
put in the background. 

77.'d' N^orth IS at this moment more unariimons in support of the govern- 
ment and the ivar than it has been at anx time since the beginning of this 



T<? Lord Rokeb)\ Lieut.-General, B. J. 85 



ufifortuttate stf'uggle. Of this there can be no doubt, and I see in it the 
undeniable certainty that the war will never end except by the rebel- 
lion being crushed. 

An evidence that the people have the utmost confidence in such an 
ultimate result, is in the eagerness with which, for the last two months, 
the people of all classes have invested their money in the securities of 
the government. The subscriptions to the Federal loan average over 
three million of dollars a day. 

The North is united and prosperous, while at the South they are 
not only in sad want of the elements of life, but serious misunderstand- 
ings have broken out between the Richmond authorities and some of 
the States, particularly the State of Georgia, the most powerful and 
influential of the Confederacy. The latter opposes the conscription 
act, and refuses to guarantee the bonds of the Confederacy, notwith- 
standing a resolution of the Confederate Congress to that effect. 

We found Havana very hot and unpleasant. The people do not 
know what comfort and cleanliness mean, and an Italian albergo is a 
palace in comparison with their best hotels. We went to some of the 
plantations of the wealthiest nabobs of the island, and it is really diffi- 
cult to believe, that within five days' sail from New York, people of 
wealth and education should live in such a state of semi-barbarism as I 
have seen there. 

All this is the direct consequence of slavery, which exists on the 
Spanish sugar plantations in the most revolting form. It is exercised 
with the most inhuman cruelty on the poor black, and degenerates the 
white both morally and physically. 

I found the Cuban planters generally in favor of the South, because 
they openly avowed that they saw in the success of the North the end 
of slavery in the United States, and that they would also be compelled 
to set their negroes free. You see, thus, that the aid and sympathy 
which the rebellion receives by a portion of your people, can onlv be 
construed into a direct assistance to uphold and perpetuate a most 
inhuman and degrading institution. 

I was very sorry to see the British Vice-Consul, Mr. Crawford, not 
only an open, uncompromising, and bitter Secessionist, but also to find 
him engaged in transactions directlv opposed to the Queen's proclama- 
tion of neutrality, and entirely incompatible with the dignity of his 
office. It was generally known in Havana that he was openly engaged 
in running the blockade, and using his office to assist Confederate 



86 -To Lord Rokcby, Licut.-Qcncral^ B. J. 

vessels to evade our cruisers under the British flag, etc., etc. It was 
under his auspices that, during my stay in Havana, the captain of 
the British war-steamer, the Immortality^ a Mr. Hancock, sent the 
band of his ship to play at a party given by the Southern commis- 
sioner, Mr. Helm. The Cubans themselves were astonished to see a 
British officer allow his band to play rebel airs under the rebel flag, 
and expressed their opinion pretty freely at so questionable a pro- 
ceeding. How far all these acts are reconcilable with the professions 
of strict neutrality I must leave to others to explain, but no fair- 
minded man can be astonished that they should excite bitterness and 
mortification. 



To THE Hon. W. H. SEWARD, 
IVashington^ D. C. 

New Yoi'.K, May 18, 1863. 

My Dear Sir, — I received this morning a letter from Baron Roth- 
schild, M. P. for the city of London, to whom I had given a letter of 
introduction in favor of Mr. Evarts. He writes me : — 

" I thank you for your information about the mission of Mr. W, 
M. Evarts, and shall be very glad to see him and to introduce him 
to some of the leading men of our government and Parliament. 

"This mission seems to show a desire to preserve friendly relations 
with us, and nothing will contribute more to accomplish this object 
than for it to be known that a sincere feeling of the kind exists." 

I take the liberty of communicating this extract to you, supposing 
that it will interest you. Baron Rothschild, who is on very intimate 
terms with Lord Russell and the prominent members of the British 
cabinet, has for some time past given me repeated assurances of the 
earnest desire of the English ministry to maintain friendly relations 
with us, and to prevent, as far as it could do, any violation of neutrality 
on the part of British subjects. 



To THE Hon. W. H. SEWARD, 
JVashington^ D. C. 

Newport, R. I., July 6, 1863. 

My Dear Sir, — Allow me to congratulate you on the success of 
our brave army and navy under its new leader. I hope and pray 
this may be the forerunner of a series of decisive Union victories, 
and that we mav at last see the end of this unholy rebellion. 

If the President were now, at this moment, when the whole North 
is electrified by our victory, to make a call upon the loval States 
for three hundred thousand volunteers for the duration of the war, 
to be partially sent to the army, and partially to camps of instruction, 
his call would be promptly and eagerly responded to. Besides that, 
he ought to call upon the militia of New York, Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, and New Jersey to man the forts around Washington 
with forty to fifty thousand men, which would enable the thirty 
thousand men, veteran troops, under Heintzelman, to swell the 
Potomac army, and assist in finishing up Lee's army. 

Our army under Dix and Keyes ought at once to be re-enforced 
by fifty thousand men at least, and then the capture, not only of 
Richmond, but of the rebel army in Virginia, could be made secure. 

The same number of men ought to be sent to New Orleans, 
and, if possible, three or four of oui' iron-clads, who are wasting 
their time before Charleston, a point only important for prestige^ 
or to gratify a just resentment, while the Mississippi is the key- 
stone of the whole rebel fabric. 

Bank's position is not at all what it ought to be, and if Vicksburg 
does not fall very soon, we stand a fair chance of losing New 
Orleans, or having to destroy the city, which would be as bad. 

I have no doubt but what the administration is keenly alive to 
the vital importance of quick and energetic action, but I thought I 
might venture to make you the above suggestions. 

If lue ?niss this time for a final death-blow to the hideous monster^ ive 
may never again have another chance. 



To THE Hon. W. H. SEWARD, 

IVashington^ D. C. 

Newport, July 20, 1863. 

My Dear Sir, — My last letters from England are not quite as 
favorable in regard to the attitude of the British cabinet on the 
question of joining France in the recognition of the Southern Con- 
federacy, as all my previous advices have been hitherto. 

My advices from well-informed friends had, until now, invariably 
most emphatically contradicted the many rumors of recognition and 
joint action by the French and English governments, set afloat for 
the last eighteen months by the Southern sympathizers. 

The Palmerston ministry was, until now, a unit in its opposition 
to any departure from the strict neutrality observed since the 
beginning (if not in feeling, at least in official words and acts). 
It seems, however, now, that under the pressure of the press and 
a powerful opposition, and by the manoeuvres of French diplomacy, 
but more than all, probably, under the influences of our reverses 
under Hooker, a minority in the ministry has changed its views, 
and has become favorable to an immediate recognition of the South, 
conjointly with France, At the last dates this was only a minority 
in the cabinet, but as for at least twelve days after the news from 
this side will continue most unfavorable to the Union cause, I 
fear that other members of the cabinet may change front, and that 
the British government may commit itself to some hasty action, 
from which it would be difficult to recede. There is no doubt 
but what all the late Southern movements have been principally 
directed toward the accomplishment of foreign recognition, soon to 
hefolloiued by foreign aid. The mission of Stephens was planned 
and based upon the hopes of success on the part of Lee, and I 
have very little doubt but what the riots in New York were insti- 
gated by rebel agents, and were to serve as a prominent part of 
12 



90 I'o Hon. IF. H. Seward. 



the schemes by which the utter hopelessness of a further struggle 
on the part of the North was to be made manifest to the world. 

These schemes have been foiled by the bravery of our army, but 
it strikes me that our government might profit by the present moment 
in order to avoid forever hereafter the danger of foreign interfer- 
ence, which, with the known tendencies and sympathies of Napo- 
leon, will always remain a strong incentive to the South for further 
resistance. 

I think that the best and most statesmanlike step to be taken 
by the President at this juncture, when unprecedented successes 
have crowned our arms, would be issuing a proclamation addressed 
to the peqple of the revolted States, inviting them to return to their 
allegiance to the United States, to withdraw their citizens from the 
army of the so-called Confederacy, and to elect members to the Con- 
gress of the United States. 



To THE Hon. W. H. SEWARD, 

JVaihnigton^ D. C. 

Paris, November 29, 1863. 

My Dear Sir, — My departure for Europe was so sudden, and my 
contemplated stay here so short, that I hardly thought it worth while 
to apprise you of my voyage to London and Paris, and to ofter you 
my services in both places. 

During the four days that I remained in London I have, however, 
had opportunities to meet and converse with several members of the 
ministry and leading men in Parliament. The general tone of all these 
gentlemen was much more friendly to the cause and position of our 
government than I had anticipated. From all I could gather, there 
is certainly no danger that England will join P ranee in any movement 
toward recognition of the South. 

The ministers seem fully aware of the mistake they committed in 
allowing the Jlaba>na to proceed to sea, and they are determined, at all 
hazards, to stop the sailing of the iron-clads. Laird has put in a plea, 
first, that they were destined for a French house, and then that they 
were for the Pasha of Egypt — the government has proofs in hand that 
both these statements are false. 

Lord Russell will probably ask for more ample powers from Parlia- 
ment immediately after its meeting, to enable him to stop these ves- 
sels and enforce a strict observance of neutrality by British subjects. 
Both he and Mr. Villiers, brother of Lord Clarendon, and one ot Her 
Majesty's Privy Council, have expressed themselves in very flattering 
terms with regard to Mr. Evarts, whose mission, they said, was very 
beneficial and useful, as he gave them very valuable information about 
many points bearing upon our neutrality laws. Your friend and agent 
has evidently left a very good impression in the government circles. 

I am informed by people who are apt to know, that, with the excep- 
tion of Gladstone and Palmerston, the members of the cabinet are all in 
favor, of the North. Still, we must not shut our eves to the fact that 



92 To Hon. IV. H. Seward. 



the taking of" Vicksburg, and our successes last summer, have a good 
deal to do with this attitude of the British cabinet, and that any serious 
reverses of our armies in Virginia or Tennessee would be followed by 
a strong pressure on the ministry for recognition, not only by the oppo- 
sition at home, but also by France. 

There is one point in connection with this which I wish to recom- 
mend to your earnest consideration. The sensitiveness on the part 
of Englishmen of all ranks, with reference to everv thing which is 
said, done, and written in America, is most extraordinary, and the 
attacks in our papers against the British government have not only the 
effect to estrange the good-will of our friends, but also to strengthen 
the hands of the opposition. Even the small matter of the discussion 
in regard to our invitino; the French and Eniilish officers to the ban- 

o o t 

quet lately given in New York to the Russians, had ruffled the temper 
of every Englishman I came in contact with. 

To give you an instance of the interest with which everv information 
from America is received, I will only mention to you that upon the 
arrival of Sir Henry Holland, about ten days ago, Lord Palmerston 
immediately sent him a telegraphic dispatch inviting him to Broad- 
lands, and within an hour afterward he received a similar invitation to 
Pembroke Lodge, from Earl Russell. I am told that Sir Henry 
speaks in the kindest terms of the reception he received, and that he 
is very much pleased with his interview with you and the President. 
My object in mentioning to you these details is to suggest to vou how 
far it might appear practicable and advisable to you to exert the influ- 
ence of the government with our leading papers to adopt a more con- 
ciliatory tone toward England — ^this Lshould think you could easily 
accomplish with such papers as the New York Times and other organs 
of the Republican party. 

The London Times continues its bitter vituperations against us, but 
it docs not represent its government and its party, and the best way to 
neutralize its pernicious influence is not to notice its attacks. 

I have not been in Paris long enough to form a correct opinion of 
what is going on here, still, thus far all confirms me in the impression 
which 1 had formed during my last residence here, viz., that the 
French Emperor is the principal person from whom danger to us is to 
be apprehended. Luckily, it seems as if he was to have his hands full 
in Europe. The Polish question has assumed a very threatening as- 
pect, and I don't see how it can be solved without a war. Thus far 



^0 Hon. IV. H. Seward. 93 

the British government seems determined not to join France in a war, 
but the Enghsh people are all very strongly in favor of Poland, and 
public opinion may force the Palmerston ministry as it did, seven years 
ago, that of Lord Aberdeen. Apart from the Polish cloud, the Em- 
peror finds his policy in Mexico to become daily less popular with the 
French people, and I have no doubt but what he has already, ere this, 
very much modified his brilliant aspirations of French trans-atlantic 
power. Added to this is the deficit in the budget, which will make a 
resort to a new loan more than probable, a measure not at all desirable 
in the present state of the money market and the low prices of the 
*' Rentes." Nearly all the governments on the Continent are likely 
to want money very soon, and so a general uneasiness pervades finan- 
cial circles. With such a state of things there is not much danger 
that Napoleon will think of interfering with us. The government 
has stopped the further construction of the four war vessels which 
were being built in French ports for the Confederates. 

Notwithstanding all this the Secessionists here, and their number is 
legion, are very confident of an early recognition and assistance on the 
part of France. It is said that their Vice-President, Stephens, is ex- 
pected here, when he will make the most liberal offers for recog- 
nition and alliance. He will even, it is expected, go so far as to 
agree to a gradual emancipation of slavery, on the part ot the Rich- 
mond authorities. It is impossible to trace these rumors to any 
trustworthy source, but it is certain that the rebel agents here are as 
active as they are numerous and unscrupulous. 



SPEECHES 



SPEECH AT JONES'S WOOD, NEW YORK. 

SEPTEMBER 12, i860. 

Fellow Democrats, — I thank you most cordially for the honor which you 
confer upon me by permitting me to preside over your deliberations on this 
occasion. It is an occasion the importance of which cannot be impressed too 
much upon our minds. We have come together in order to pledge our sup- 
port to the nominations of our National and State Conventions, determined to 
withhold the thirty-five electoral votes of the great Empire State from Abraham 
Lincoln, and thus to save the glorious Republic from the horrors of disunion and 
anarchy. We have come together to listen to the heart-stirring eloquence of 
our noble and gallant standard-bearers, Stephen A. Douglas, the bold and fear- 
less champion of the Constitution and the rights of the people, and Herschel V. 
Johnson, the patriot and the statesman. In order to share this rare privilege 
with you, I have sacrificed the pleasing duty of attending the celebration 
by which the city of Cleveland honored this week the memory of an illus- 
trious kinsman of my family. It is forty-seven years since the gallant Perry 
fought and conquered, after a most bloody struggle against fearful odds, the 
enemies of his country on Lake Erie. Let us this day pledge our united and 
unwavering energies to fight and conquer the enemies of the Constitution and 
the Union, arrayed against us by sectional fanaticism North and South. We 
are fighting for the maintenance of our beloved and blessed Union, and the 
sacredness of our cause should give us the victory. Let us, then, advance to 
the charge, and the lion-hearted Democracy of this vast Republic, from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, will in November next inscribe on its banners the 
memorable words of Perry, ** We have met the enemy and they are ours." 



13 



SPEECH AT COOPER INSTITUTE, NEW YORK. 

NOVEMBER 4, i860. 

Fellow Citizens, — In thanking you for the honor which you have conferred 
upon me, I cannot refrain from addressing you a few brief remarks at this criti- 
cal juncture of our political affairs. 

In less than four days you will be called upon to record your votes at an 
election, upon the result of which depends not only the preservation of your 
property, and the prosperity of your native city, but also the very existence of 
this great and vast Republic. 

Whatever the Republican leaders may say to the contrary, I fear that the 
election of Mr. Lincoln to the presidential chair must prove the forerunner of 
a dissolution of this confederacy amid all the horrors of civil strife and blood- 
shed. 

I know that Mr. Lincoln's friends claim for him sentiments of patriotic and 
conservative attachment to the Union. But of what avail can these senti- 
ments be, even if they do exist, from the moment that he consents to become 
the standard-bearer of a sectional party holding principles incompatible with the 
sacred obligations of the Constitution, and arrayed in open and unrelenting hos- 
tility against the property and the institutions of the fairest portion of our com- 
mon country. 

But, my friends and fellow-laborers in the cause of the Union, with God's 
blessing we must not give our opponents a chance to carry out their fair prom- 
ises, or their boasting taunts, 

I do not believe the great State of New Y'ork, which under the beneficent 
influences of our institutions has grown up to a mighty empire in herself, will 
ever give her casting vote in favor of fanatical sectionalism. 

I will not believe that the City of New York, which owes her proud 
position as the first commercial emporium of the world to the blessings of our 
Union, can ever be unmindful of her duty to the Union. I have an abiding 
faith in the unflinching courage of our indomitable Democracy, which has 
carried its victorious banner tlirough many a hard-fought battle. And last, 
though not least, my friends, 1 place implicit trust in the energetic co-operation 
of those patriotic and conservative men, the members of the time-honored 
Whig party, who, forgetting all past differences, and only mindful of their 



speech at Cooper Institute^ N . T. qq 



unwavering attachment to the Union, have united with us to fight the common 
enemy. 

When in 1850 the hydra of sectionalism and disunion first raised her hideous 
head, we saw the great statesmen of the Republic lay aside all differences on 
minor topics of internal or foreign policy, and by one united efitjrt crush the 
treasonable monster. Then the immortal Webster stood side by side with 
the eloquent and Union-loving Henry S. Foote ; then the patriot and statesman, 
John Bell, fought shoulder to shoulder with the honored veteran of Democracy, 
Lewis Cass ; and the cherished idol of the American heart, the great Henry 
Clay, was linked hand in hand with the unflinching and patriotic champion of 
the Constitution, Stephen A. Douglas. 

The work then so nobly begun by our great leaders is now to be com- 
pleted by the united efforts of the American people. From the snow-clad hills 
of the far North to the blooming savannahs of the sunny South, from the roll- 
ing waves of the Atlantic to the golden shores of our empire on the Pacific, the 
hopes and fears of every American patriot are centred at this moment in New 
York. Will you allow these hopes to be disappointed? No! before another 
week shall have passed away I trust that the mighty Empire State will have 
redeemed herself from Republican misrule, and preserved the Union from the 
calamities of a sectional administration. 



L.ofC. 



SPEECH TO FIRST N. Y. REGIMENT OF RIFLES. 

MAY 15, 1861. 

Colonel Blenker and Gentlemen of the First Regiment of Rifles, — 
I have the honor to present this stand of colors to your regiment. It is the 
flag which for three-quarters of a century has been hailed in every quarter of 
the inhabited globe as the emblem of Constitutional liberty, and the beacon of 
hope to the oppressed of all nations. 

In rushing with generous ardor to the rescue of our flag, you have given to 
your fellow-citizens a most gratifying proof of the patriotism and the devotion 
of our German population to the land of their adoption and choice. A large 
number of you have fled from oppression and tyranny in the Old World, after- 
having in vain shed your blood for the liberties of your country on many a hard- 
fought battle-field in Hungary and Germany. 

You have found on these hospitable shores protection, freedom, and loving 
hearts, and in offering now the sacrifice of your lives on the altar of your 
adopted country you pay a debt of gratitude for the blessings vouchsafed to you 
under our liberal institutions. 

Our most fervent prayers follow you to the path of duty and honor which 
you have chosen. May the Almighty, who has thus far showered His choicest 
blessings upon our cherished Union, protect her brave defenders. May He 
watch over you in the hour ot danger, and may He grant you to return in 
safety to your homes and firesides after every star in this bright constellation shall 
have been restored, to abide with its sisters in union and peace to the end 
of time. 



SPEECH AT TAMMANY HALL, NEW YORK, 

JULY 4, 1 8 6a. 

Mr. Grand Sachem and Gentlemen, — I am extremely obliged to you for 
the high honor you bestow upon me, and the cordiality with which you wel- 
come me home. I am deeply impressed and entirely taken by surprise ; how- 
ever, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

I have been absent from my country for the last ten months, compelled to a 
temporary residence abroad by illness in my family. It was a source of heartfelt 
regret for me to be away from home, and from my friends in their dark hour of 
trial. I cannot describe to you the anxiety and sorrow with which I watched 
the progress of our gallant army and navy, but when I saw from month to 
month the energy and patriotism of our people rise stronger and higher under 
every adversity, anxieties were relieved, and my fervent hopes and conviction 
in the ultimate reconstruction of the Union confirmed. 

I come home at a dark and gloomy moment of the struggle in which we are 
engaged. It seems as if Providence had decreed this momentary reverse of our 
heroic army in order to admonish us, on this anniversary of our National Inde- 
pendence, that it will require the whole energy of our people it we mean to 
leave to our children the blessed inheritance bestowed by the fathers of our 
Republic. We have to deal with an enemy arrayed in relentless strife against 
our institutions, and the best interests of humanity, and it will require the un- 
divided and gigantic efforts of an united people to save our country and our 
Union. 

There is no sacrifice too great, none which we should not most cheerfully 
make in order to help the government at this moment. We want more troops, 
more money, and every thing good and loyal citizens can give to their country 
in this hour of danger. 

Allow me, Mr. Chairman, to conclude by giving the following sentiment: — 

"Our country, the object of our dearest affections; may she ever find her 
sons worthy of her, and ready to sacrifice their lives and their treasure in her 
defence, against domestic traitors or foreign foes." 



LETTER TO UNION MEETING AT NEWPORT, R. I. 

Bellevue Avenue, August 9, 1862. 

My Dear Sir, — I regret extremely that being called by pressing engage- 
ments to New York, it will not be in my power to comply with your kind 
invitation to address the mass meeting to be held in Touro Park on Monday 
next. 

It would have been a source of sincere gratification to me to meet my fellow- 
citizens of Newport on this momentous occasion, and to raise my feeble voice in 
aid of the sacred cause of the Union and the Constitution, for which the Presi- 
dent has made so well-timed and earnest an appeal to the patriotism of our 
people. 

The South, misled by the teachings of reckless politicians, has in its mad 
efforts to destroy our common country, shown an energy and determination 
worthy of a better cause. Throughout the revolted States every able-bodied 
man, from the age of 1 6 to 60, is at this moment in arms against those glorious 
institutions bequeathed to us by the fathers of the Republic, and which until 
now had rendered our country the admiration and envy of the civilized 
world. If we mean successfully to withstand their wicked onslaughts, if 
we intend to preserve to our children the precious inheritance of Constitutional 
liberty, if we hope to save from disgrace and defeat the sacred symbol of our 
greatness and our liberties, that banner which floated victoriously over every 
battle-field until betrayed and attacked by its own children, then we must at 
once obey the call of duty, and rush without a moment's delay to the support of 
our government. 

Whatever may be thought or said by our domestic and foreign foes, in order 
to exaggerate our losses in the late battles before Richmond, and generally to 
underrate our gallant army and navy, we can proudly point to numerous vic- 
tories, and immense advantages which we have gained over the rebels in last 
year's campaign. We hold New Orleans and the Mississippi, the very artery 
of their existence, and the Federal flag has a stronghold in every one of the 
revolted States. I am firmly convinced that with the additional forces which 
the government intends to put into the field, and which the people will cheer- 
fully and promptly place at its disposal, we can and will crush the rebellion before 
the end of the year. 



Letter to Union Meetings Newport, R. I. 103 

Once the Confederate army conquered and dispersed, and we shall see the 
South cast loose from their wicked leaders, and returning eagerly to share with us 
the blessings of that Union to which alone we chiefly owed our former greatness 
and prosperity. 

Rhode Island has ever been foremost in the defence of our national liberties, 
and I have no doubt your meeting will prove a new incentive to her sons to 
follow the noble example of their fathers and brothers, who on many a battle- 
field have sealed with their blood their undying love for their country. 

Incapacitated by lameness from bearing arms in the defence of our country, I 
am still desirous to do my share as a good citizen in the hour of our national 
trial. I beg to suggest to you that a fund be raised by subscription for the sup- 
port of the needy families o{ the soldiers from this city or State. If this propo- 
sition meets with the approval of our citizens, I am prepared to give $i,coo 
to the committee which your meeting may deem proper to appoint for the col- 
lection of subscriptions and the judicious distribution of funds. The brave 
soldier will fight with a better heart when he knows that those whom he has 
left behind are cared for by those who cannot share his danger and his glory. 

Yours, very truly, 
(Signed) AUGUST BELMONT. 

To William H. Cranston, 

Mayor of Newport. , 



SPEECH AT MEETING IN NEWPORT, R. I. 

SEPTEMBER, 1862. 

Fellow-Citizens, — It is with extreme diffidence and hesitation that I com- 
ply with the flattering invitation of your worthy Mayor to address you this 
evening. I feel, however, that it is the duty of every good citizen, at this 
moment, to exert what influence he may be able to command, and so I will also 
raise my feeble and inexperienced voice in the good cause of the Union and the 
Constitution. We meet here to-night in the midst of the most fearful crisis of 
our nation's history. A century has not passed away, and the magnificent edi- 
fice raised by the fathers of the Republic to last for all time, and which already 
spreads its protecting dome from ocean to ocean, is tottering to its very founda- 
tions. A deep-laid conspiracy, fanned by sectional passion and reckless leaders 
into open rebellion, has at last assumed the proportions of a gigantic revolution, 
against which the immense resources placed by our people at the disposal of the 
government, have thus far proved powerless. 

When the rebellion first broke out, the North, conscious of its strength and 
the righteousness of its cause, thought that it could, with a slight efix)rt and in 
a short time, crush it and vindicate the superiority of the law. Our army, 
hastily collected, full of bravery and patriotism, but badly armed, drilled, and 
commanded, was, by the insane clamor of meddling politicians, hurled against 
the fortified stronghold of the rebels, selected and defended by skilful and expe- 
rienced generals. We suffered a most disastrous defeat — our army was deci- 
mated and demoralized, and hardly could claim any longer the name of an army. 

The battle of Bull Run was a sad and terrible blow to the Union cause, 
but we derived one great benefit from it. The government and people awoke 
to the conviction that political partisans and editors, however meritorious and 
talented they may be in their sphere, were not the men to lead our brave 
soldiers to victory. They had to stand aside to make room for the young 
chieftain called by the President to save the Republic, threatened at the very 
seat of the Federal government. 

George B. McClellan came. Out of chaos and utter confusion he created 
one of the finest armies of modern days, and that in a space of time not longer 
than it took military France, with a standing army of five hundred thousand 
men, to prepare for her last Italian campaign. Then we saw Burnside in the 



speech dt Newport^ R. I. loC 



South, and Halleck in the West, drive the rebels like chafF before them ; then, 
under the well-matured plans of our young commander-in-chief, success followed 
for months our arms, wherever our brave army and gallant navy carried the stars 
and stripes. 

But here again political meddlers and ambitious demagogues step in and 
arrest our victorious progress. They stop recruiting when men were more 
than ever wanted to finish up the good work so well begun ; they deprive 
McClellan of the chief command; they interfere with his plans; they reduce 
his forces, and thus doom our brave Army of the Potomac to defeat and disaster, 
when months ago Richmond would have been ours had McClellan been left 
untrammelled. Congress, instead of contenting itself with voting supplies for the 
vigorous prosecution of the war, and declaring, by an unequivocal attitude, that 
this war is carried on solely and purely for the Union, the Constitution, and the 
maintenance of the laws, again throws the apple of discord among us by ill-timed 
and ill-advised legislation on slavery. Military commanders in Missouri, 
South Carolina, and Louisiana follow the pernicious example, and instead of 
attending to their duties as soldiers, issue unauthorized and unconstitutional 
proclamations calculated to irritate and embitter the South, and estrange it still 
more from the Union. It is true Mr. Lincoln, whose good and conservative 
intentions nobody can doubt, disavows these proclamations, but Fremont, Hun- 
ter, and Phelps were kept in command by the influence of their Abolition friends, 
and soon we see the unhappy results of all this. 

The South, where, only a few months back, more than one-third of the popula- 
tion was utterly opposed to secession, becomes united as one man ; they follow 
blindly those very leaders against whom so many had battled to the last, but 
whose predictions that this war was waged by us for abolition and destruction 
of Southern property, they see now on the eve of being verified. 

On the other hand, the North, which, with unexampled unanimity and total 
oblivion of all party distinctions, had rushed to the defence of our flag, becomes, 
now, distracted and divided. It was, and is still, ready to fight for the Union 
and the Constitution, but it is not ready to initiate a war of extermination, and 
to plunge the South into all the horrors of a servile insurrection. You have 
seen the fearful consequences of these dissensions and the intermeddling of 
ignorant politicians and demagogues ; our brave soldiers given up to the com- 
mand of inefficient generals, the flower of our army sacrificed to their ignorance 
and incapacity, Washington in danger, Maryland invaded, and Pennsylvania 
threatened. 

And now again, as a year ago, the government has to call upon McClellan to 
save the sinking fortunes of the Republic. For months past he had been tra- 
duced and vilified in the halls of Congress and on the floor of the Senate ; his 
capacity and courage — nay, even his loyalty — questioned by a large portion of 
the Abolition press; the brave troops, who almost worship him, had been, regi- 
14 



1 o6 Spcccit at Neivport^ R. /. 



ment after regiment, withdrawn from his command, until the man who had created 
the Army of the Potomac was left with barely a corporal's guard, while his 
veteran soldiers were slaughtered by the reckless ignorance of spurious heroes 
pushed forward by clamorotis politicians. He bore all with the fortitude and 
resignation of a true patriot ; he did not issue vaunting proclamations, and he 
treated the attacks of his enemies with the silent contempt which thev merited. 
Upon the call of his government he quietly and modestlv assumed again the hieh 
and fearfully responsible position assigned to him. His advent was hailed by the 
army, and every true lover of the Union, with hopeful joy. Victory, which 
seemed to have forsaken us forever, perches again upon our glorious banner, and in 
less than a fortnight from the day on which he assumed command over a beaten 
and disorganized army, he drives the hungry hordes of Jefferson Davis from the 
soil of loyal Maryland, upon which they had fallen like a swarm of devastating 
locusts. 

We have now, at the head of our army, Halleck and McClellan, the two men 
whom the veteran Scott, the hero of a hundred battles, had designated as his 
worthy successors. Under their leadership our brave army will march on 
to victory, but it we mean to bring this terrible war to a speedy end, we must 
furnish more men to fill up our ranks. 

My own conviction is, that in order to crush the rebellion we must have one 
million of men in the field — one-half to be employed in Virginia to beat and 
disperse the rebel army, the other half to sweep down the Mississippi with an 
overwhelming force which would make all further resistance hopeless. The ' 
rebel Congress has just called out every able-bodied man in the Confederate 
States between thirty-five and forty-five years old. They expect, thus, to 
raise three hundred thousand more men, in addition to the three or four hun- 
dred thousand whom they have already under arms. This is their last throw- 
in tlic fearful game in which they are engaged, and you may depend on it they 
will play it to the bitter end with the recklessness of despair. 

The crisis is at hand which is to decide whether we are ever again to 
be a free and powerful nation, or whether this most wicked and causeless 
rebellion shall succeed in destroying our liberties and lowering our country 
to the level of Mexico and Central America. Shall history record that twenty 
millions, defending the most sacred cause for which nation ever drew the sword, 
were overcome by one-third their number who had raised their fratricidal hands 
against the best of governments .'' No, it cannot, it must not be I 

Men of Rhode Island, the Republic is in danger ! Our free institutions, the 
memory of the past, the hopes of the future, all call upon you to march forth in 
your country's cause. Leave your wives and children trustingly behind— a grate- 
ful people will protect and care for them. Do not allow demagogues and fanatics 
to distract you from the legitimate and holy purpose for which alone this war is 
to he carried on. Inscribe on your banner that you fight tor the " inion as 



speech at Neivport^ R. I. 107 

?t tvas, and the Constitution as it is,''' and God will bless your arms and give 
you the victory. 

And to you who, like me, are deprived bv age or physical incapacity of 
the privilege ot drawing your swords in the defence of our liberties, to you I 
appeal to contribute your money liberally to the good cause which we have 
all so much at heart. Many a brave and loyal man is only deterred from 
joining our army by the fear that in his absence his family might suffer 
want. I have already, on a former occasion, suggested the raising of funds by 
subscriptions for the purpose of providing for the families of soldiers in this city. 
I now again renew my suggestions and my offer to subscribe for such a fund. If 
carried into effect in a judicious and energetic manner, it will do much toward 
swelling the ranks of the Union defenders. 



SPEECH AT THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 

AUGUST 29, 1864. 

Gentlemen of the Convention, — We are assembled here to-dav as the 
National Democratic Convention, for the purpose of nominating candidates for 
the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States. This task, at all 
times a most important and arduous one, has, by the sad events of our civil war, 
assumed an importance and responsibility of the most fearful nature. Never, 
since the formation of our government, has there been an assemblage, the pro- 
ceedings of which were fraught with more momentous and vital results than 
those which must flow from your action. 

Toward you, gentlemen, are directed at this moment the anxious fears 
and doubts, not only of millions of American citizens, but also of every lover 
of civil liberty throughout the world. In your hands rests, under the rul- 
ing of an all-wise Providence, the future of this Republic. Four years of 
misrule, by a sectional, fanatical, and corrupt party, have brought our 
country to the very verge of ruin. The past and present are sufficient 
warnings of the disastrous consequences which would befall us if Mr. Lincoln's 
re-election should be made possible by our want of patriotism and unity. 
The inevitable results of such a calamity must be the utter disintegration ot 
our whole political and social system amidst bloodshed and anarchy, with the 
great problems of liberal progress and self-government jeoparded for generations 
to come. 

The American people have at last awakened to the conviction that a change 
of policy and administration can alone stay our downward course ; and they will 
rush to the support of your candidate and platform, provided you will offer to 
their suffrage a tried patriot, who has proved his devotion to the Union and 
the Constitution, and provided that you pledge him and yourselves to main- 
tain that hallowed inheritance by every effort and sacrifice in your power. 

Let us, at the very outset of our proceedings, bear in mind that the dissensions 
of the last Democratic Convention were one ot the principal causes which gave 
the reins of government into the hands of our opponents ; and let us beware not 
to fall again into the same fatal error. We must bring to the altar of our country 
the sacrifice ot our prejudices, opinions, and convictions — however dear and 
long cherished they may be — from the moment they threaten the harmony and 



speech at the Chicago Convention. ] 09 

unity of action so indispensable to our success. We are here, not as war Demo- 
crats, nor as peace Democrats, but as citizens of the great Republic, which we 
will strive to bring back to its former greatness and prosperity, without one 
single star taken from the brilliant constellation that once encircled its youthful 
brow. Let pure and disinterested patriotism, tempered by moderation and 
forbearance, preside over our deliberations, and, under the blessings of the 
Almighty, the sacred cause of the Union, the Constitution, and the Laws 
must prevail against fanaticism and treason. 



SPEECH AT THE NEW YORK RATIFICATION MEETING. 

SEPTEMBER 17, 1S64. 

Fellow Citizens, — I thank you for the honor which you confer upon me. 
This enthusiastic uprising of the Democracy of the Empire City, for the pur- 
pose of ratifying the nomination of General McCIellan and George H. Pendle- 
ton for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States, is a sure in- 
dication of what New York intends to do on the 8th of November next. While 
at Chicago as a delegate from our State, I pledged New York City to roll up a 
majority of 50,000 for our candidates. I am now sure that I did not promise too 
much, and that you will redeem my pledge. We are engaged in a great and 
noble contest. It is not only the election of a favored candidate, but it is the sal- 
vation of the Republic, the restoration of the Union, and the vindication of the 
Constitution and the laws, which will be the fruits o{ our victory. 

Four years ago, when I had the honor to preside at the last Democratic meet- 
ing held before the presidential election, I predicted that Mr. Lincoln's election 
would be the forerunner o[ a dissolution of the Union amidst war and bloodshed. 
How terribly have events verified my fears. The issue before the American 
people is just as grave and momentous now as it was then. The electors through- 
out the loyal States will have to choose between war and disunion, which must 
be the inevitable results of Mr. Lincoln's re-election, or an early, honorable, 
and lasting peace, based upon the Union and the Constitution, which can only 
be secured under tlie conservative, Democratic, and national administration of 
General McCIellan. 

Our candidate pledges himself and his administration to such a result in his 
admirable letter of acceptance, and he has proved to the American people that 
he knows how to keep his promises. Two years ago to-day he redeemed his 
pledge to save Washington and the Northern States from the victorious army 
of Lee, on the bloody battle-field of x\ntietam. Hardly a week before, the 
hero of the Peninsula, the man who had created the Army of the Potomac, 
the general under whose wise and far-seeing combinations Roanoke, Fort 
Donclson, and New Orleans fell into our hands, had been left without the 
command of a single man, and had offered to his enemies in power to share the 
ftte of his comrades as a common soldier in the defence of our Union. Jl was 
only when Lee's forces thundered at the gates of \\ ashington, tliat Lincoln, 



speech at N. /'. Rati fie ation Meeting. in 



Stanton, and Halleck, that glorious trio of military science and genius, called 
upon the man whom they had so disgracefully treated to save them. The 
capital they were willing to give up ; but McClellan knew the cost of the loss 
of Washington ; once in the hands of the rebels, an immediate recognition of 
the Richmond usurper by the foreign governments, and the inevitable indepen- 
dence of the South. 

He took command of a beaten, discouraged, and shattered army; his heroic 
followers knew their leader, and within three w'eeks from the day that he 
assumed command, the remnant ot Lee's beaten army had to seek safety in 
flight. And how was McClellan rewarded for this brilliant campaign ? By 
being again deprived of his command, in the most unjustifiable and arbitrary 
manner, and by a system of persecution from that day forward, of which history 
shows hardly a more disgraceful example. It was my good fortune to see 
General McClellan shortly after his last campaign, and when I expressed to 
him mv astonishment that he consented again to take command with Halleck 
and Stanton in the War Department, after the shameful manner with which 
they had ruined his plans in the Peninsula, he replied to me : " I knew to what 
1 was exposing myself, but the country was in danger, and I had no right to make 
conditions." And this is the man who, for two years past, has been traduced 
and vilified by every Republican paper throughout the land, and who has been 
represented to the American people as disloyal to the Union and the Constitu- 
tion, and sympathizing \vith the rebels of the South ! 

We are told that the Democratic party is the party of disunion, and that we 
are the friends of Jefferson Davis and his rebel government. Hundreds of 
thousands of brave Democrats who have bled on the field of battle for the sacred 
cause of the Union and the Constitution have not been sufficient to silence this 
foul calumny ! 

But what do the Southern Secessionists say of the Northern friends whom 
Seward and Greelev persist in attaching to their interest? Ever since the nomina- 
tion of McClellan, the organs of Jeff. Davis throughout the South, are loud and 
earnest in their denunciations of his election. They see in it a sure forerunner 
of a division at the South, which must pave the way to a speedy return of the 
revolted States to their allegiance to the Union, and they dread the name of 
McClellan as our banner-bearer more than they do that of Grant and his army. 
The Richmond Enquirer of the 6th instant, after reviewing the candidates of 
the Republican and Democratic parties, concludes by saying : "Thus, whether 
we look at this nomination in the light of peace or of war, we prefer Lincoln 
to McClellan, for we can make better terms of peace with an anti-slavery 
fanatic than with an earnest Unionist. Our best hope is from the honest 
fanatics of the North ; such men, when they see their people are tired of the 
war, will end it by peace that sacrifices territory to freedom, and will let the 
South go, provided she carries slavery with her." 



1 12 Speech at N. T. Ratificahon Meeting. 

Yes, gentlemen, the election of General McClellan will be a more severe 
blow to Jefferson Davis than the fall of Richmond. Let every one, therefore, 
aid in the great and good work before us. We have fearful odds to overcome. 
The Secessionists of the South and the fanatical disorganizers of the North are 
both arrayed against us ; but with the Union, the Constitution, and the laws 
inscribed on our banner, and McClellan as our leader, the victory must be 
ours. 



SPEECH AT MEETING, COOPER INSTITUTE. 

NOVEMBER 2, 1864. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen, — I am deeply grateful for this kind and 
flattering reception, which I feel is more due to the patriotic work in which we 
are all engaged than to any personal merit of my own. Four years ago I stood 
on this very place pleading the cause of the Union and the Constitution against 
the combined efforts of Northern Abolitionists and Southern Secessionists, and 
advocating the election of the patriot and statesman, the lamented Douglas, 
against the then obscure candidate of a sectional party. The Democracy 
was defeated, and our country given up to civil war and desolation, because 
we had become divided by the selfish machinations of Southern Secessionists, 
aided by their misguided friends of the North, who broke up the Charleston 
convention. Permit me to discuss for a few moments the present political 
position of some of these former champions of Southern rights. I will not 
speak of the Southern leaders, who, under Jeff. Davis, are waging an unholy 
war against our government. Grant, Sherman, and Farragut will take care of 
them. Our business is with their former friends at the North. Here we 
have, first and foremost, Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, who, at Charles- 
ton, gave, during fifty-two ballots, his vote for Jeff. Davis, the only vote cast 
for him in the convention, and then left that body to sit in council with 
the Southern traitors. Then we have Daniel S. Dickinson, who denounced the 
Northern Democracy for not re-admitting, at Baltimore, the seceding delegates 
who, under the leadership of Yancey, had broken up the convention at Charles- 
ton. On our bended knees we ought to have entreated them to return — 
that was Mr. Dickinson's advice ; and I am compelled to add here that estimable 
gentleman, John A. Dix, who, in i860, advocated in an elaborate address to 
the convention more ultra Southern views than the Breckenridge platform 
itself, and who, as postmaster of James Buchanan, was the head and front of 
the Breckenridge organization in this city. The Abolition papers of this morn- 
ing contain an address of General Dix of a very difi^erent character than the 
one just alluded to. Without entering here into the merits of that extraor- 
dinary document, permit me only to point your attention to the following 
proposition contained in that address : — 
15 



1 1 4 Speech at Meeting, Cooper Institute. 

"An amendment of the Constitution which shall render the President 
ineligible after one term of service." 

In the face of this, Mr. Dix and his friends intend to vote for a second term 
of Mr. Lincoln. The general, after opposing in 1848 the regular Democratic 
nomination of General Cass, and in i860 that of Stephen A. Douglas, will now 
show his consistency by voting for Lincoln in opposition to the principle laid 
down by himself 

Thus we find these gentlemen in the ranks of the Republican party arrayed 
under the black banner of Abolitionism against the party of the Union and the 
Constitution. The allurements of power and office are as irresistible to them 
under Lincoln as they were under Buchanan. They, and some lesser lights of 
the same stamp, are now joining with all the zeal of neophytes in the mad 
outcry raised by their new allies against the Democratic party and its noble 
leader, George B. McClcllan. In the wake of these more prominent renegades 
from the Democratic faith, we have seen a call for a mass meeting, signed by 
a number of disappointed politicians, and a few nabobs of our city, who have 
added a few more millions to their wealth by this terrible war. Those gentle- 
men call themselves Democrats — Democrats of the Jacksonian school — and 
allege as the reason for not supporting our ticket, the wording of our platform 
and the character of our candidates. Now, permit me to detain you for a 
few moments in order to see by what right those gentlemen call themselves 
Democrats, and how much the Chicago platform has had to do with their sup- 
port of Abraham Lincoln. Here we have in the first instance ex-Judge Pierrepont, 
who for the last three years has been the confidential friend and agent of Secre- 
tary Stanton, the bitter enemy of General McClellan ; and it is said by those 
who profess to know, that this friendship has proved quite lucrative to the honor- 
able ex-judge. Is it to be wondered that he should wish its continuance for four 
years more ? Is it to be wondered that in his speech of last evening, reported 
in all the Abolition papers, he should assail, in a spirit of the bitterest partisan- 
ship, the character and services of General McClcllan ? His patron of the War 
Department has for the past two years persecuted with the most malignant 
hatred the man to whom the country owes the Army of the Potomac, — the 
general who twice saved the capital from the invading rebel forces, and who 
offered to share the fate of his comrades as a common soldier, when deprived 
of his command by the intrigues of Halleck and Stanton. Judge Pierrepont 
could not show his gratitude for past favors and favors to come more effectually 
than by his most unfair, personal attack on General McClellan. I had looked 
for this first public demonstration of the judge with a good deal of curiosity, as 
I had hoped to obtain by it some explanation in reply to a statement contained 
in the following article of The World newspaper, which I have not yet seen 
contradicted : — 



Speech at Meetings Cooper histitute. 1 1 



" Judge Pierrepont and the Bogus War Democrats. 

"The following letter comes to us indorsed by the signature of a gentleman 
whose name is at the service of Judge Pierrepont, if he desires a voucher for 
its authenticity. We confess our own surprise at its statements, and, in com- 
mon with the public, should be glad to know what considerations have worked 
such a change in Judge Pierrepont's mind since September. 

" Philadelihia, October 25. 

" To the Editor of the. World : — 

" My attention has been called to a manifesto addressed to 'War Democrats, 
and published in the New York Tiibune, — a very singular medium of com- 
munication, one would suppose, with Democrats of any shade of opinion. 
Among the names of the signers to this document I perceive that of 'Edwards 
Pierrepont ;' I have a few remarks to make touching him. We chanced to be 
fellow-passengers in the Persia^ Cunard steamship, from Liverpool, in the month 
of September. We had not, upon our departure on September 10th, as yet 
learned who was the nominee of the Chicago Convention, and, of course, we 
were all very much excited upon the subject. There seemed to be but one or 
two administration men on the ship, out of some 180 or 190 passengers, the 
Democrats being very generally in favor of General McClellan for the nomina- 
tion. This Judge Pierrepont, after holding back for some tim-e, finally declared 
himselt a Democrat of the strictest school. He said, however, that there was 
no tzr i\\\y cluDice o^ the nomination of General McClellan; that the Demo- 
cratic party zcould not stultify itself by nominating any moM who had any 
connection ivith this zvar : that the war was an utter failure; that the only 
prospect of the salvation of the nation, or the restoration of the Union, lay in a 
cessation of hostilities, and a general convention of all the States. He said 
that none of these purposes could be accomplished without a change of admin- 
istration, and that, therefore, it was the solemn duty of every patriot to labor 
for that primary and fundamental -object, without which all efforts were fruit- 
less, all hope vain of the salvation of our republican government. He said to 
me in conclusion : ' With a change of administration there might yet be a way 
to save the Republic entire ; without it, it was past praying foi\' 

" This was the substance of a conversation of two hours or more, in the 
presence of my wife, in all of which, as general propositions, I concurred, except 
that General McClellan could not be nominated. I assured the judge that he 
could and would, and should be, as he was, above and beyond any living man, 
the embodiment of the political necessities of the American people. Now, you 
may imagine my surprise to see the name of this same ' Edwards Pierrepont ' in 
four short weeks after the earnest expression of the above-recited views, giving 
his name, and any influence he may possess, to the prolongation ot that very 
policy, and the support of that identical administration, which he thus pub- 
licly declared would insure the downfall of the Repubhc. 

'• Viator." 

What do you say to these sound principles of a war Democrat ot the new 
school, who cannot support the Chicago platform, and must bolt the regular 
Democratic nominee to vote for Abraham Lincoln ? Then you have the 



Il6 Speech at Meetings Cooper Institute. 



member of Congress from the First District, the Hon. Mr. Stebbins, who has 
just resigned his seat, because he says that his opinions are no longer in unison 
with those of his constituents. I doubt very much if there ever existed any 
such unison between him and them. He was elected two years ago by the 
loyal Democracy of the Firs: District, who, then, as they are now, were for 
the " Union at all hazards ;" but were not in favor of Mr. Lincoln or the 
financial policy of his Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Stebbins, for many 
months after his election, was the avowed advocate of an immediate and un- 
conditional peace, and I could cite here many good Democrats, personal friends 
of his, who had to use all their influence in order to make him withhold those 
pernicious views. I believe they succeeded so far as to make him, for a short 
time at least after he took his seat in Congress, as near to the mark of a sound 
Democrat as he ever was or ever will be. But we find him soon fascinated by 
the transcendent statesmanship of Mr. Lincoln's Secretary of State and the 
financial genius of Mr. Chase. So much so that his great effort in Congress is a 
grandiloquent eulogy of the irredeemable paper issue of the Secretary of the 
Treasury. And the Republican papers of this morning, selected for the first 
lime for the diffusion of Democratic principles, contain a letter of his, in 
which he lectures the Democratic party for not doing justice to the effi- 
ciency and talent of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet. It will be refreshing to Messrs, 
Stanton and Welles to read praises from a Democratic pen, which their own 
party has not been willing to accord to them. Is it strange, after all this, that 
Mr. Stebbins does not agree in sentiment with his constituents ? They seem to 
have come to that conclusion some time before he did, when they refused to put 
him in re-nomination for Congress. The Hon. F, B. Cutting can hardly claim 
that he leaves the Democratic party on account of our platform. Nobody can 
entertain personally a more sincere regard for that gentleman than I do ; still 
we all know that he has not been with us since 1862, when we did, what we 
intend to do next Tuesday, elect Horatio Seymour governor of this State. 
Then you have the eccentric and venerable Mr. Peter Cooper, who appears in 
the character of a war Democrat, after having voted, in 1856, for Fremont, 
and in i860 for Lincoln. Both Mr. Moses Taylor and Mr. A. T. Stewart 
signed, last spring, a circular in favor of Mr. Lincoln's re-election, and they 
probably forgot that circumstance, when they now profess to abandon our ban- 
ner, because they profess to see lurking in its folds a disgraceful peace, notwith- 
standing that McClellan and Pendleton have inscribed on it : " The Union 
and the Constitution at all hazards; peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must." 
The political antecedents of the other signers of that call are of the same ques- 
tionable character : there is, for instance, Mr. William H. Webb, a wealthy 
ship-builder and government contractor, who builds magnificent vessels, for 
which he receives still more magnificent prices from Mr. Welles, but who has 
not voted a Democratic ticket for manv a year. 



speech at Meeting, Cooper Institute. 1 1 y 

But I have already dwelt too long on these proselytes to the Abolition faith. 
The great Democratic party cannot suffer from the attacks of this or any other 
set of men. It is the party which, by its unwavering adherence to the 
Constitution, and by its unflinching firmness and strict regard to treaty stipu- 
lations in all our domestic and foreign relations, had brought our country to a 
greatness and prosperity which had rendered it the admiration and envy of the 
nations of the earth, until, in an evil hour, the madness of sectional fanaticism 
placed Abraham Lincoln in the presidential chair. It was a Democratic 
administration which carried us triumphantly through the Mexican war, 
giving us the golden empire of the Pacific, soon to become the highway of the 
commerce of the East. It was a Democratic administration which resisted 
firmly and successfully British pretensions in Oregon and Central America. 
It was under a Democratic administration that American influence compelled 
Denmark to abandon the feudal Sound dues which for centuries she had 
imposed upon the commerce of the world. It was under a Democratic ad- 
ministration that Kozta was liberated from the claws of Austrian tyranny, prov- 
ing to the world that our proud flag gave protection to the martyrs of liberty of 
all nations who sought asylum under its folds. I had the honor to represent 
our country abroad when Mr. Marcy wrote the Kozta letter, and my heart 
swelled with pride and gratitude that I could claim the title of an American 
citizen. How do we stand now, under Mr. Lincoln's administration, in our 
relations with the great powers of Europe — how are American rights respected 
and protected abroad ? 

We all remember, with shame and indignation, the case of Arguelles, a 
Spanish refugee, who was seized in this city by the Federal officers, and, without 
even the form of a trial, given up to the Cuban authorities. We have no extra- 
dition treaty with Spain, so that no possible excuse could exist for this arbitrary 
act of Mr. Seward. Of whatever crime Arguelles may have been accused in 
Cuba, I doubt whether modern history can point to a grosser outrage against the 
sacred right of asylum. Place the case of Kozta alongside that of Arguelles, and 
you obtain an idea of the difference between a Democratic and Republican ad- 
ministration. Had an occurrence like the famous Trent affair taken place when 
a Marcy or a Cass was at the head of the State department, those prisoners 
would have been surremlered at once, and by our free action, sent to England 
before they were claimed, if their capture was illegal ; but if they were lawfully 
taken, the whole power of France and England could not have obtained their 
release from those Democratic statesmen, and the American people would 
have sustained them, if every city on our sea-board had been laid in ashes by 
the combined fleets of those great powers. Look at our commerce, the sails of 
which, four years ago, whitened every sea of both hemispheres — our commercial 
flag chased from the ocean by a few paltry privateers of the Confederates, who, 
if we had a competent Secretary of the Navy, should long ere this not have had 



1 1 8 Speech at Meetings Cooper Institute. 



a single port either on the Atlantic or the Gulf. Can anybody doubt that, with 
an efficient navy under such men as Farragut, Dupont, Rogers, and Porter, we 
could have taken Charleston, Mobile, Savannah, and Wilmington within six 
months after the war began. But Mr. Welles, notwithstanding the immense 
resources placed at his disposal, gave to the rebels all the time they could possi- 
bly desire to make those ports the strongholds they now are. 

The tact is, the present administration did not know how to preserve peace, nor 
does it know how to conquer it, notwithstanding the many victories gained on land 
and sea by our gallant navy and army. We have been told over and over again 
that the rebellion was on its last legs, that the people of the South are tired of the 
war, that their armies are demoralized and on the point of dispersing. Are we, 
for all this, any nearer to an honorable peace within the Union than we were 
three years ago ? Has the administration tried to profit by the blood-stained 
laurels of McClellan, after the battle of Antietam ; of Grant, when he took 
Vicksburg; of Farragut, when he took New Orleans, and placed Mobile at our 
mercy; of Sherman's glorious capture of Atlanta; of Meade's overwhelming 
victory at Gettysburg? No attempt at negotiation, no proffer of an honorable 
settlement which (even if under the military terrorism of Jeff. Davis it should 
not have led to immediate peace) would, at least, have strengthened the 
Union party at the South, and given them power, with the aid of the strong 
arm of the Federal forces, to free themselves of their tyrannical leaders. 

And this, gentlemen, is the only way in which we can ever hope to restore 
the Union, and bring peace and prosperity to our common country. Give 
to the South the choice of an honorable peace under the Union and the 
Constitution, or a fruitless struggle against the irresistible power of a united 
North, and you will see State after State leave the confederacy of Jefferson 
Davis, and return to their allegiance under the Union. But who can doubt 
that the South will fight to the last extremity if the fatal policy of confiscation 
and forcible emancipation is to be persisted in, and that is the policy to which 
Mr. Lincoln and his party are pledged, should they be able to keep themselves 
in power. 

Thus the war is to become a war of subjugation or extermination — and do 
you know what it means to conquer and subjugate a nation of six mil- 
lions of freemen .? It took the ablest generals of republican France more than 
ten years before they could subjugate the small departmentof the Vendee, which 
was only finally pacified by the great Napoleon himself The whole power of 
Russia, with its colossal military despotism, was nearly half a century before 
conquering the small province of Circassia. Poland and Hungary were not 
subjugated by the sword of Russia and Austria alone, but tardy concessions 
had to assist in their pacification. 

Look at what we have achieved ourselves in three and a halt years, with 
a sacrifice of nearly tour hundred thousand men and the accumulation ot a 



speech at Mee////g\ Cooper \ustiUik. 1 1 9 

national debt of $2,000,000,000. Our army and navy have earned immortal 
glory and the lasting gratitude of their countrymen hy their devotion and 
heroism, and yet, though we hold the Mississippi and several important points 
on the Atlantic and the Gulf, we are far from having the conquest of the South 
within our grasp. Grant, whose bravery is only equalled by his stubborn 
tenacity, has, with the largest and best army ever placed under one man on 
this continent, and with the power and resources of a patriotic people to back 
him, not yet taken Richmond, after six months, and the sacrifice of over one 
hundred thousand of our best troops. 

Can any one, after all these heart-rending experiences, have any doubts as to 
the fearful calamities in store for us, if Mr. Lincoln should succeed in having 
himself re-elected — a war to the knife between the two sections, until the weaker 
is exterminated, and the other left in the agonies of exhaustion ; a whole 
generation swept away; a national debt accumulated, such as few nations have 
ever been burdened with, and entailing the disgrace and miseries of national 
bankruptcy, or else, for generations to come, a load of taxation which must 
undermine our labor and industry, and reduce our laboring classes to poverty 
and pauperism. 

In the face of all these evidences, clear as the light of day to every mind 
which is not blinded by corruption or fanaticism, the Democratic party, as well 
as its candidates, are denounced by an unscrupulous party press as disloyal, 
and as the open allies of the rebels, because we expect to conquer an honor- 
able peace within the Union and the Constitution, instead of following the mad 
career to ruin under the lead of sectional fanatics. While the Democratic 
generals are fighting our battles, while Grant, Meade, and Hancock are pushing 
on toward Richmond, and while the gallant Sherman is driving Beauregard before 
him, and the dashing Sheridan is gathering fresh laurels, we see some Republican 
generals of Mr. Lincoln try their prowess on a more peaceful field of battle. 
Hooker, when last heard from, was operating in Illinois, in the new 
character of a stump-speaker ; General Burnside is busy here making speeches 
in favor of Lincoln and abolition, both undoubtedly hoping for a better result 
in November than they were able to achieve at Chancellorsville and Fredericks- 
burg. Thus the Democratic party and its leaders stand where they have always 
stood — "for the Union, the Constitution, and the law" — alike opposed to 
Southern Secessionists and Northern fanaticism. 

A leading journal in this city, which has maintained in this presidential 
contest a strict neutrality — a neutrality in which, I am sorry to say, my 
humble self does not appear to have been included — has found fault with 
our party for not having declared in favor of a more vigorous foreign 
policy, and the re-afiirnration of the Monroe doctrine. I need not tell 
you, my Democratic fellow-citizens, that the Democratic party does not 
undertake more than one great task at a time. Let us first restore the Union 



120 Speech at Meeting^ Cooper Institute. 

and the Constitution, and then we will settle our other accounts. General 
McClellan has pledged himself and the party "for the Union at all hazards." 
Our candidate for the Vice-Presidency has declared for the restoration of the 
Union and the Constitution, "peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must." 
On that platform we intend to elect them, and redeem their pledges to the 
American people and the world, and when once again we shall, by the bless- 
ing of the Almighty, be a reunited and powerful people of freemen, then the 
Democracy of this mighty Union will say to the powers of the earth, that 
the North American continent was intended for Republican institutions, and 
that the temple of liberty raised by the fathers of the Republic must span its 
dome from ocean to ocean, and from the lakes to the isthmus. 

And now, gentlemen, let me entreat you, in conclusion, to use every honor- 
able means within your power in order to accomplish the great work before us. 
In six days from now the life or death of this great Republic will be decided. 
Let the Empire City be, as ever, true to the Union and the Constitution ; 
let us roll up a majority of forty thousand for McClellan and Pendleton, that 
the sun of the 8th of November may, under a benignant Providence, set upon 
a free and redeemed people, and a new era of greatness and prosperity follow 
the dark days through which we are now passing. 



SPEECH AT THE NEW YORK CONVENTION. 

JULY 4, 1868. 

Gentlemen of the Convention, — It is my privilege to-day to welcome you 
here in this hall, constructed with so much artistic taste, and tendered to you 
by the time-honored Society of Tammany. I welcome you to this magnificent 
temple, erected to the Goddess of Liberty by her staunchest defenders and most 
fervent worshippers. I welcome you to this good city of New York, the bulwark 
of Democracy, which has rolled back the surging waves of radicalism through 
all the storms of the last eight years, and I welcome you, gentlemen, to our 
Empire State, which last fall redeemed herself from Republican misrule by a 
majority of nearly fifty thousand votes, and which claims the right to lead the 
vanguard of victory in the great battle to be fought next November for the 
preservation of our institutions, our laws, and our liberties. 

It is a most auspicious omen that we meet under such circumstances, and are 
surrounded by such associations, and I share your own confident hope of the 
overwhelming success of the ticket, and the platform which will be the result 
of your deliberations. For it is to the American people that our appeal lies. 
Their final judgment will be just. The American people will no longer re- 
main deaf to the teachings of the past. They will remember that it was 
under successive Democratic administrations, based upon our national prin- 
ciples, the principles of Constitutional liberty, that our country rose to a pros- 
perity and greatness unsurpassed in the annals of history ; they will remember 
the days when North and South marched shoulder to shoulder together in the 
conquest of Mexico, which gave us our golden empire on the Pacific, our Cali- 
fornia and our Oregon, now the strongholds of a triumphant Democracy ; 
they will remember the days when peace and plenty reigned over the whole 
Union, when we had no national debt to crush the energies of the people, 
when the Federal tax-gatherer was unknown throughout the vast extent of the 
land, and when the credit of the United States stood as high in the money 
marts of the world as that of any other government ; and they will remem- 
ber, with a wise sorrow, that, with the downfall of the Democratic party, in 
i860, came that fearful civil war which has brought mourning and desolation 
into every household ; has cost the loss of a million of American citizens, and 
has left us with a national debt, the burden of which drains the resources, crip- 
16 



122 Speech at the New 'Fork Convention. 

pies the industry, and impoverishes the labor of the country. They will 
remember that, after the fratricidal strife was over, when the bravery of our 
army and navy and the sacrifices of the people had restored the Union, and 
vindicated the supremacy of the law, when the victor and the vanquished were 
equally ready to bury the past, and to hold out the hand of brotherhood and 
good-will across the graves of their fallen comrades, it was again the defeat of the 
Democratic candidates in i86:|. which prevented this consummation so devoutly 
wished for by all. 

Instead of restoring the Southern States to their Constitutional rights, 
instead of trying to wipe out the miseries of the past by a magnanimous 
policy, dictated alike by humanity and sound statesmanship, and so ardently 
prayed for bv the generous heart of the American people, the Radicals 
in Congress, elected in an evil hour, have placed the iron heel of the conqueror 
upon the South. Austria did not dare to fasten upon Hungary, nor Russia to 
impose upon conquered Poland, the ruthless tyranny now inflicted by Congress 
upon the Southern States. Military satraps are invested with dictatorial power, 
overriding the decisions of the courts, and assuming tne functions of the 
civil authorities, the whole population are disfranchised or forced to submit 
to test oaths alike revolting to justice and civilization; and a debased and 
ignorant race, just emerged from servitude, is raised into power to control 
the destinies of that fair portion of our common country. 

These men, elected to be legislators, and legislators only, trampling the 
Constitution under their feet, have usurped the functions of the executive and 
the judiciary, and it is impossible to doubt, after the events of the past few 
months, and the circumstances of the impeachment trial, that they will shrink 
from an attempt hereafter to subvert the Senate of the United States, which 
alone stood between them and their victim, and which had virtue enough left 
not to allow the American name to be utterly disgraced, and justice to be 
dragged in the dust. 

In order to carry out this nefarious programme, our army and navy are 
kept in times of profound peace on a scale which involves a yearly expen- 
diture of from one to two hundred millions, prevents the reduction of our 
national debt, and imposes upon our people a system of the most exorbitant 
and unequal taxation, with a vicious, irredeemable, and depreciated currency. 
And now this same party, which has brought all these evils upon the coun- 
try, comes again before the American people, asking for their suffrages. 
And whom has it chosen for its candidate ? The general commanding the 
armies of the United States. Can there be any doubt left as to the designs of. 
the Radicals, if they should be able to keep their hold on the reins of govern- 
ment ? They intend Congressional usurpation of all the branches and func- 
tions of the government, to be enforced by the bayonets of a military despot- 
ism. 



speech at the New fork Convention. 1 23 



It is impossible that a free and intelligent people can longer submit to 
such a state of things. They will not calmly stand by to see their liberties 
subverted, the prosperity and greatness of their country undermined, and the 
institutions bequeathed to them by the fathers of the Republic wrested from 
them. They must see that the conservative and national principles of a liberal 
and progressive Democracy are the only safeguards of the Republic. Gentle- 
men of the Convention, your country looks to you to stay this tide of disor- 
ganization, violence, and despotism. It will not look in vain, when next 
November the roll shall be called, and when State after State shall respond, 
by rallying around the broad banner of Democracy, on which, in the future, 
as in the past, will be inscribed our undying motto, " The Union, the Consti- 
tution, and the Laws." 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Preface 3 

LETTERS. 

To John Forsyth 22 Nov., i860. 5 

" Herschcl V. Johnson 12 " " 8 

« Julius Izard Pringle 26 " " 9 

" John C. Bradley a8 « " 10 

« William Marten 3° " " " 

" Governor Wm. Sprague 6 Dec, " 12 

a u a " 13 " " 14 

(( u <( " 1 9 " " 16 

" Thuilow Weed 19 " " '^ 

" John Forsyth 19 " " 19 

" Hon. S. A. Douglas 26 " " 23 

" '• John J. Crittenden 26 " " 24 

" " Herschel V. Johnson 30 " " 25 

" " S. A. Douglas 31 " " ^^ 

«' " Wm. H. Seward 17 Jan., 1861. 30 

" Baron Lionel de Rothschild, M. P 21 May, " 32 

u u « " " 28 " " 36 

« Hon. Wm. H. Seward 29 " " 39 

'< The Right Hon. Lord Dunfermline 3 June, " 40 

" Hon. Wm. H. Seward 6 " " 45 

" N. M. Rothschild & Sons 7 " " 47 

« 11 " '< II " " 49 

<' Hon. S. P. Chase 18 " " 5^ 

" Bavon James de Rothschild 18 " " 53 

« " Lionel de Rothschild 18 " " 55 

" Hon. Wm. H. Seward 24 " " 56 

« " S.P.Chase 24 " " 57 

" Baron James de Rothschild ... 25 " " 61 

" Hon. Wm. H. Sewaid 3° J"ly- " ^3 

« Thurlow Weed ^o " 1862. 66 

« President A. Lincoln 10 Aug., " 71 

" Baron Lionel de Rothschild, M. P 25 Nov., " 73 

«< Colonel E. G. W. Butler 6 Dec, " 75 



1 26 Index. 

PAGE 

To Baron Lionel de Rothschild, M. P 3 April. 1863. 77 

" «' " <' «' , 14 " " yo 

" Lord Rokeby, Lieutenant-General, B. A 7 May, " 83 

" Hon. Wm. H. Seward 18 " « 87 

" " " " 6 Jaly, " 88 

<' " " «' 20 " " 89 

" «' " " 29 Nov., " 91 

SPEECHES. 

At Jones' Wood 12 Sept , i860. 97 

" Cooper Institute 4 Nov., " 98 

To First N. y. R.egiment of Rifles 15 May, 1861. 100 

At Tammany Hall 4 July, 1862. 101 

To Union Meeting, Newport, R. \. (Letter) 9 Aug., " 102 

At Newport, R.I Sept., " 10+ 

" Chicago Convention 29 Aug., 1864. 108 

" New York Ratification Meeting 17 Sept., " no 

" Coojfer Institute 2 Nov., " 113 

" New York Convention 4 Jul)- 1868. 121 



31^-77-2 



